Theater and the Big "Why."

Before I begin, I’d like to start by recommending a series on Scott Walters' Theatre Ideas blog titled “Advice to a Theatre Major.”  In his posts Walters gives great advice, specifically with his emphasis on the importance of finding one’s raison d’être, or as he put it, one’s “why.”  As a former theater major, this got me thinking. 

Without diving into too much detail about my fundamental beliefs with regard to morality, ethics, politics, etc. I’d like to put my “why” into words as best I can because it also happens to be the “why” for Rocklin Shakespeare.   I wrote in my first blog that Rocklin Shakes was formed in order to “create a fun and secure space in which artists and actors could experiment with their craft, to stimulate collaboration through the support of a cohesive ensemble of players and to bring the fruit of our labors to the widest audience available by offering free admission.” 

These are all “whats” and “hows” but do not illustrate the fundamental reason as to why a group of people joined the program and donated thousands of unpaid hours as well as money from their own pockets to bring it to fruition five years in a row.  It does not explain why thousands of people (including strangers from 100 miles away) came to the performances night after night and left with huge smiles on their faces, or why children got so excited for the program that they arrived dressed like characters from the play, or why community members continue to recognize the actors at coffee shops and grocery stores and go out of their way to tell them how much they enjoyed their performances.

The why is about inclusion, about unity; it’s a fundamental belief that we can identify ourselves by the fact that we are human and can unite because of our sameness rather than divide because of our superficial differences.  We’re not trying to sell anyone anything, we just want to identify with and connect to the people with which we live.

A “why” is terribly difficult to put into words because it comes from the limbic part of the brain, not the language controlling neo-cortex.  Theater has the power to speak very clearly to the limbic part of the brain---the part that controls emotions---but people have to go experience it for themselves.  I would have a hard time approaching a stranger and trying to sell them my belief system without them having attended one of my shows.  Heck, I had a really difficult time explaining the belief system to my own actors before they began rehearsals and were able to absorb it through their experiences.  Last year, prior to the first rehearsal with a new cast, I actually tried to put the “why” of Rocklin Shakespeare into a rhyming little cheer:

“The reason that we are here

Is so much more than Will Shakespeare:

We’re inclusive not exclusive,

Positive not negative,

Supportive, creative, constructive the-A-ter!”

I believe the cheer was largely ineffective in converting new actors to Rocklin Shakespeare’s “why” because they didn’t need converting: they’d already shown up.  Also, as anyone who has pretended not to be home after spotting missionaries walking up their sidewalk knows: proselytizing as a means of conversion is mostly met with defensiveness and rejection.   Another reason why the cheer was ineffective is that it was still fixated on the “what” of our program, something that was already obvious to the participants.

So to take from Simon Sinek’s “Golden Circle” phrasing:

Why:  We want to identify with and connect to the people with which we live on a human level.

How:  We create fun and secure spaces to stimulate inclusive, creative collaboration within our community.

What: We also produce great theater. 

Want to come to our next show?

Above photo from Rocklin Shakespeare's 2010 production of a Midsummer Night's Dream.  Heather Smith, as Snout, portrays Wall.