The powers of theatre, Part I

Theatre of Crossing Cultures is one of my two theatre classes this semester. It's a bit different than your typical classroom structure. No exams, no lectures, no note-taking. Instead, we play a ball game every day, sit in a circle, and laugh and cry over each other's innermost secrets.

Sounds more like a camp pow-wow than a 300-level college course, right? Well, Barry, our teacher, is respected within the Theatre Department, even if he is a little unconventional. He drives his motorcycle to work and pushes around a shopping cart from Linens 'N Things full of shiny objects, noisemakers, bells, whistles, and decorations. He reminds us of his credo every day: "I have nothing to give you," rejecting the structure of the American education system and instead encouraging us to learn from each other.

I have to say that I've never had a class quite like it before. Although theatre classes are generally a bit more movement- or action-oriented than typical lecture or lab classes, I've never initiated class every day with tossing a globe-sized ball at my classmates to learn their names, or had the chance to share some of my most life-altering moments with people I hardly know.

There's a lot I want to say about this class; I'm breaking it up into a series of posts so it doesn't get monotonous. But if you want to get into the crossing-cultures mindset, ponder the following and all of its possible meanings:

"Who are all those people you have brought with you?"
The disciple whirled around to look.
Nobody there. Panic!
Lao Tzu said: "Do you not understand?"

Welcome to Theatre of Crossing Cultures. It's a wild ride.

--DQ