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Nathalie Martinek PhD's avatar

This is excellent Kevin! I can't believe I only discovered your writing here now after several chats on this topic on Clubhouse, sharing your thinking on the topic. Love you work!!

Social Injustice Warriors turn all things of beauty, creativity and art into shit.

Kevin Ray's avatar

Thank you so much Nathalie! It means a lot to me that you liked it ❤️ I miss talking to you and everyone else on Clubhouse (I’ll never understand why they changed the app in a way that discouraged live conversations) but I’m so happy I can read your writing and suggestions for posts to read here on Substack!!! I hope all is well!

Gerda Ho's avatar

How poetically put !

Salomé Sibonex's avatar

Thanks for reading!

Gerda Ho's avatar

I used to attend plays at Chautauqua, but the last few years, they have gone “ woke” and now their plays deal mainly with identity. ..DEI is their mantra. Art is lost to it ,which is sad.

Salomé Sibonex's avatar

Such a bummer! Sorry to hear that. Hopefully the ticket sales will send the message, but unfortunately we've already seen even that be dismissed by scolding the audience for not "knowing what they should want."

Sufeitzy's avatar

I’m waiting for the hot straight men doing the psychosexual “work” of social equity with horny gay men. I’ll probably be waiting a long time unless Lee Strasberg manages to make it a method requirement.

Seriously, similar criticisms were leveled at the theatre of the Absurd in the late 50’s, that it wasn’t transformative enough… so invaded the bad socially meaningful theatre of the absurd, from which arose Monty Python….!

Imperceptible Relics's avatar

First they came for the party.

Then they came for the university.

Then they came for the theater, but had no idea what real theater was, and got taught an ancient Greek theater lesson.

Salomé Sibonex's avatar

Haha, and wouldn't it be nice if that lesson was enough! But alas.

Imperceptible Relics's avatar

So, I found the source of this theatrical tactic of shaming the actors on stage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_Oppressed

Kevin Ray's avatar

I took courses on so-called “Theater of the Oppressed” in graduate school. I wouldn’t say it’s about shaming the audience. It’s attempting to intervene on a perceived social problem. But I would say it’s a misguided and fraudulent practice at best and fake group therapy at worst. Forum Theater (a style of Theater of the Oppressed) practitioners deserve to get slapped with a mental health care malpractice lawsuit.

Serendipiteedee's avatar

It would be fantastic, if you want as wide an audience as possible, if you provided a transcript.

Salomé Sibonex's avatar

Appreciate the suggestion! We may do that for shorter videos, but this one being 1.5 hours would be a behemoth of a transcript!