Around five years ago I started something in my local Anglican Church called The Space Drama Project. The main idea was to create theatre which grew directly from the faith and creativity of members of the congregation and which might enrich the church and the wider community in our post modern age. I hoped to bring together people from a diversity of backgrounds and beliefs for that unique shared experience of live theatre.
The Space Project was so named to reflect the fact that theatre uses space as its primary medium of communication; a stage surrounded by an audience.
The first theatres in ancient Greece were simply large stone circles normally used for threshing corn at harvest time. From this primitive arena it grew into a vast civic auditorium by the 5th century BC holding 20,000 citizens. The drama festivals of Athens became a central building block for one of the greatest civilizations since the dawn of time. These vast auditoriums reflected the Athenian notion of democracy. The amphitheatre became a shared space for both the actors and the audience with people viewing the action from multiple angles offering each citizen a unique perspective on the action unfolding in the circular arena below. The theatre was for the citizen a place where the great questions of life could be openly debated where the mysteries of the universe might be explored and experienced through the power of the drama.
Over the centuries, theatre has changed; in many ways for the worse! Theatres are much smaller today and tend to segregate the audience into distinct sections; stalls, circle, dress circle, the boxes, each at different prices. Audiences have been increasingly distanced from the stage by orchestra pits, curtains, and darkened auditoriums. Moreover, in most West-End theatres, the seats are all angled end on to the performers, rather than surrounding them as of old. So, it has been argued, theatre has become a more manipulative medium over the years relegating the audience to the role of passive consumers. We are sold a product at a price, spun a yarn that leaves them, both literally and metaphorically, in the dark!
All this has probably influenced my choice of staging regarding the latest production at The Space. This is a dramatic adaptation of Christina Rossetti's folkloric poem, Goblin Market, which tells the story of the seduction of a young maid by Goblins from the nearby glade. It has also made me reflect on how the kind of space you create for an audience, profoundly affects their experience in the theatre and to consider how a Christian theatre company such as ours might communicate more effectively with an audience in a post-modern age. This is a culture which mistrusts absolute Truth, but rather celebrates the dialogue generated from apparently conflicting versions of truth in a pluralist society
We have decided to perform Goblin Market in our new community hall, rather than the church, and to create an intimate theatre in the round. (See above for an example.) This means the actors will be surrounded on all sides by their audience. The size and shape of such an auditorium means that everyone has a ring-side seat and everyone is in a more direct relationship with each other, creating a virtual community within the hall, for whom the space is shared rather than segregated. It also means the action and story is viewed from diverse perspectives, reflecting the multiplicity of meanings which resonate from the drama. It means we have less control as story tellers to manipulate the audiences response, since every image we create will be seen from several angles at once. This also diminishes my control as director over the performers since there is no single frame within which to position the actors for a particular effect. They are freer to roam!
All this suits both the company and audience very well, since great art thrives on ambiguity, complexity and conflict. An audience doesn't like to be spoon-fed ideas or a simplistic story-line, but wants to be given space to piece the puzzle together for themselves. A great film or novel, for example, leaves us with many questions about the characters, the plot, and the picture of the world it has reflected. It shows us the story and characters unfolding from a range of angles, constantly shifting our perspective. It stirs us up to question our assumptions about truth, and makes us rethink our beliefs. (This explains why in many dictatorships the arts are considered to be dangerously subversive leading to censorship, the burning of books, and closing of theatres.)
However, some Christians have been concerned by the emerging ideologies of post-modernism because they appear to be undermining a faith which celebrates one absolute creed, rather than multiple versions of truth. It is, after all, a monotheisitic faith mediated by one saviour, through his one perfect sacrifice. Nevertheless other believers, including artists like myself, increasingly feel that some post-modern ideas can inspire and inform both our theology and our art.
Take, for example, this notion of multiple versions of the truth, or at least multiple perspectives. Have you ever wondered why we need four gospels to depict the life of Christ? Why do they differ not only in style, but sometimes on quite significant details? One reason is that each writer views the story through their unique cultural lens, whilst seeking to reflect the concerns of their particular target audience. They have a different perspective. They are, as it were, sitting on different sides of our theatre in the round.
I was reading Ian Boxhall’s excellent study of the New Testament recently, and he explained how Mark’s gospel reflects a more localized, Jewish perspective on the ministry of Jesus, so that he writes about him teaching by the sea of Galilee. Whereas the much traveled Luke, who had sailed the vast Mediterranean with St.Paul, describes it more accurately as an inland lake. Yet Mark’s vision of the life of Christ was nourished by a familiarity with the Jewish scriptures, where the sea symbolizes the realm of chaos and evil. So, perhaps Mark has a particular agenda, when depicting Christ teaching from a boat on this highly symbolic stretch of water early on in his gospel, and later stilling the storm there too. He wants to emphasize Christ's power over the forces of darkness. In contrast Luke is keen to provide a more factual, geographic account, for his more cosmopolitan audience. Both have something important to contribute to the portrait of Christ.
It is very challenging for Christians to bare witness to the gospel, in an increasingly pluralist society. There are so few people at work, in our neighborhoods or in the media who seem to share our world view. They see things differently. Even within the Anglican Communion, just one denomination of many, there are conflicting interpretations of what the Bible has to say about a range of contemporary issues. It is always tempting to assume my view point is the most valid, the more biblical, orthodox, or compassionate, rather than to try to see life from another’s perspective. The result can be that I become more entrenched in my one perspective, and increasingly hostile to any other. At its worst, this has resulted in violence, bigotry, and other such attitudes which fracture communities and lead to war. Even at best it may lead me to close my mind to new ways of seeing the world.
The arts, and perhaps theatre in particular, due to its multi-dimensional space, encourage multiple perspectives as a way of encountering the complexity of the human condition. They highlight the limitations of single mindedness. Their way of seeing is more often both-and rather than either-or. They draw us into fruitful dialogue, rather than coerce us into a particular point of view. These virtues, it may be argued, are increasingly embraced by our post-modern culture.
The church can benefit enormously by embracing the arts, and its way of exploring truth, if it is to make any headway in the mission field of contemporary society. I hope and pray, that the work of the Space Drama Project and our forthcoming ‘in the round’ production of ‘Goblin Market’ draw the post-modern skeptics into a fruitful dialogue with the Christian faith. May it also coax the more conservative theologians into an open engagement with contemporary culture? May we all gather together in a theatre in the round, sharing one space, viewed from diverse angles. Your kingdom come!
Publish Post
The Space Project was so named to reflect the fact that theatre uses space as its primary medium of communication; a stage surrounded by an audience.
The first theatres in ancient Greece were simply large stone circles normally used for threshing corn at harvest time. From this primitive arena it grew into a vast civic auditorium by the 5th century BC holding 20,000 citizens. The drama festivals of Athens became a central building block for one of the greatest civilizations since the dawn of time. These vast auditoriums reflected the Athenian notion of democracy. The amphitheatre became a shared space for both the actors and the audience with people viewing the action from multiple angles offering each citizen a unique perspective on the action unfolding in the circular arena below. The theatre was for the citizen a place where the great questions of life could be openly debated where the mysteries of the universe might be explored and experienced through the power of the drama.
Over the centuries, theatre has changed; in many ways for the worse! Theatres are much smaller today and tend to segregate the audience into distinct sections; stalls, circle, dress circle, the boxes, each at different prices. Audiences have been increasingly distanced from the stage by orchestra pits, curtains, and darkened auditoriums. Moreover, in most West-End theatres, the seats are all angled end on to the performers, rather than surrounding them as of old. So, it has been argued, theatre has become a more manipulative medium over the years relegating the audience to the role of passive consumers. We are sold a product at a price, spun a yarn that leaves them, both literally and metaphorically, in the dark!
All this has probably influenced my choice of staging regarding the latest production at The Space. This is a dramatic adaptation of Christina Rossetti's folkloric poem, Goblin Market, which tells the story of the seduction of a young maid by Goblins from the nearby glade. It has also made me reflect on how the kind of space you create for an audience, profoundly affects their experience in the theatre and to consider how a Christian theatre company such as ours might communicate more effectively with an audience in a post-modern age. This is a culture which mistrusts absolute Truth, but rather celebrates the dialogue generated from apparently conflicting versions of truth in a pluralist society
We have decided to perform Goblin Market in our new community hall, rather than the church, and to create an intimate theatre in the round. (See above for an example.) This means the actors will be surrounded on all sides by their audience. The size and shape of such an auditorium means that everyone has a ring-side seat and everyone is in a more direct relationship with each other, creating a virtual community within the hall, for whom the space is shared rather than segregated. It also means the action and story is viewed from diverse perspectives, reflecting the multiplicity of meanings which resonate from the drama. It means we have less control as story tellers to manipulate the audiences response, since every image we create will be seen from several angles at once. This also diminishes my control as director over the performers since there is no single frame within which to position the actors for a particular effect. They are freer to roam!
All this suits both the company and audience very well, since great art thrives on ambiguity, complexity and conflict. An audience doesn't like to be spoon-fed ideas or a simplistic story-line, but wants to be given space to piece the puzzle together for themselves. A great film or novel, for example, leaves us with many questions about the characters, the plot, and the picture of the world it has reflected. It shows us the story and characters unfolding from a range of angles, constantly shifting our perspective. It stirs us up to question our assumptions about truth, and makes us rethink our beliefs. (This explains why in many dictatorships the arts are considered to be dangerously subversive leading to censorship, the burning of books, and closing of theatres.)
However, some Christians have been concerned by the emerging ideologies of post-modernism because they appear to be undermining a faith which celebrates one absolute creed, rather than multiple versions of truth. It is, after all, a monotheisitic faith mediated by one saviour, through his one perfect sacrifice. Nevertheless other believers, including artists like myself, increasingly feel that some post-modern ideas can inspire and inform both our theology and our art.
Take, for example, this notion of multiple versions of the truth, or at least multiple perspectives. Have you ever wondered why we need four gospels to depict the life of Christ? Why do they differ not only in style, but sometimes on quite significant details? One reason is that each writer views the story through their unique cultural lens, whilst seeking to reflect the concerns of their particular target audience. They have a different perspective. They are, as it were, sitting on different sides of our theatre in the round.
I was reading Ian Boxhall’s excellent study of the New Testament recently, and he explained how Mark’s gospel reflects a more localized, Jewish perspective on the ministry of Jesus, so that he writes about him teaching by the sea of Galilee. Whereas the much traveled Luke, who had sailed the vast Mediterranean with St.Paul, describes it more accurately as an inland lake. Yet Mark’s vision of the life of Christ was nourished by a familiarity with the Jewish scriptures, where the sea symbolizes the realm of chaos and evil. So, perhaps Mark has a particular agenda, when depicting Christ teaching from a boat on this highly symbolic stretch of water early on in his gospel, and later stilling the storm there too. He wants to emphasize Christ's power over the forces of darkness. In contrast Luke is keen to provide a more factual, geographic account, for his more cosmopolitan audience. Both have something important to contribute to the portrait of Christ.
It is very challenging for Christians to bare witness to the gospel, in an increasingly pluralist society. There are so few people at work, in our neighborhoods or in the media who seem to share our world view. They see things differently. Even within the Anglican Communion, just one denomination of many, there are conflicting interpretations of what the Bible has to say about a range of contemporary issues. It is always tempting to assume my view point is the most valid, the more biblical, orthodox, or compassionate, rather than to try to see life from another’s perspective. The result can be that I become more entrenched in my one perspective, and increasingly hostile to any other. At its worst, this has resulted in violence, bigotry, and other such attitudes which fracture communities and lead to war. Even at best it may lead me to close my mind to new ways of seeing the world.
The arts, and perhaps theatre in particular, due to its multi-dimensional space, encourage multiple perspectives as a way of encountering the complexity of the human condition. They highlight the limitations of single mindedness. Their way of seeing is more often both-and rather than either-or. They draw us into fruitful dialogue, rather than coerce us into a particular point of view. These virtues, it may be argued, are increasingly embraced by our post-modern culture.
The church can benefit enormously by embracing the arts, and its way of exploring truth, if it is to make any headway in the mission field of contemporary society. I hope and pray, that the work of the Space Drama Project and our forthcoming ‘in the round’ production of ‘Goblin Market’ draw the post-modern skeptics into a fruitful dialogue with the Christian faith. May it also coax the more conservative theologians into an open engagement with contemporary culture? May we all gather together in a theatre in the round, sharing one space, viewed from diverse angles. Your kingdom come!
Publish Post
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