#5 The Seeing Place
Figuring out who we are by what we watch
The word ‘theatre’ comes from the Greeks. It means the ‘Seeing Place’. It is the place people come to see the truth about life and the social situation
Stella Adler, The Art of Acting
When we look back at the murky origins of drama we often talk about the Greeks. Much has been made of the idea that ancient drama, particularly tragedy, was there to provide a cathartic response in its audience. The plays would help provide an emotional (spiritual?) release for the spectators as they watched the onstage characters get put through the emotional ringer. I think, however, this idea has come at the expense of a more important notion. The Ancient Greeks with their fragile and fledgling democracy were trying to figure out who they were.
If the Greeks were to abandon monarchy and vote for a leader should that leader follow the will of the people or should the people vote for the leader whose values they wanted to embrace? And what values? What ideas? In Athens, the theatre became the ‘seeing place’ where such values might be expressed and tested. Conflicts such as ‘Religious Obedience verses the Laws of the State’ (Antigone) were worked out in dramatic form. The drama became a springboard for discussion and the communal shaping of a national identity.
When one with honeyed words, but evil mind, persuades the mob then great woes befall the state.
Euripides
It struck me that a lot of my recent work has been in response to the dis-ease of our times and my own wrestles within it. The Ancient Greeks retold myths and legends from their past but they were always a critical commentary on their present moment. When I worked on If Walls Could Talk for Fairfax House we, as a creative team, were not only (imaginatively) retelling a series of historical events but also raising contemporary questions focussed on misogyny and the stigma surrounding mental illness.
My upcoming Out of Character show, Shattered, was inspired by Rod Serling’s ground-breaking TV show, The Twilight Zone. In the 1960s American television (the new ‘seeing-place’) was funded by advertisers who controlled what could and could not be talked about. Social issues such as race or free speech were prevented from having a platform lest they damage a show’s commercial sponsor. Serling, a socially-conscious and critically acclaimed dramatist, realised that if he presented these issues as fantasy or science-fiction then they would slip past the beady eye of the censor. If monsters or aliens were involved then the drama couldn’t possibly be about anything serious, could it? For our production of Shattered, the company devised scenes and characters which took present day issues (hate speech, mob rule, access to health care) and wrapped them in a science-fiction lens. I took these ideas and wrote a play in which a mysterious fog clouds the thinking and behaviours of a small community. It is in part a tribute to one of my favourite Twilight Zone episodes - The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street - I hope you get to watch both very soon!
Making A Scene: Counterpoint
I also love Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing. The speech above, from its final season, would be more than at home in an Ancient Greek drama in which a battle of ideas is fought. But, if we are not careful our ‘seeing places’ can become places of propaganda in which the ideas the authors might wish to espouse are simply delivered to the audience without critical rigour. The heroes delivering them are virtuous and the villains who oppose them are caricatures. It’s a double-lie which weakens the drama. As a writer then we must take the opportunity to craft the strongest possible opposing argument letting the audience, like the Athenians, be the judge.
For Writers
Time: 30 minutes - 60 Minutes
Tools: A timer. Something to write with. Pen, Pencil, Phone, Typewriter
Instructions: Choose a cause you are passionate about (e.g climate change) and write a 124 word monologue. That’s the same length as the Sorkin speech above. Use repetition (as above) to give musicality to the speech. This is a speech of persuasion. A call to believe in something. A call to do something.
Now for the hard thing. Write an intelligent rebuttal. A convincing argument, a strong opposing force which presents a powerful counterpoint to your original speech. Make it equally persuasive both in terms of form and content.
This clash of ideas might find themselves in a final scene of a play you might one day write. The stronger you make the counter-arguments the more you are trusting your audience to make up their own minds.
The Greeks trusted
This Week’s Useful Thing
This is an interesting interview with Rod Serling in which he talks about the issues navigating making socially-conscious drama with commercial pressures. Interestingly, he denies that The Twilight Zone will tackle such such issues even though, in practice, it was to become the ‘Seeing-Place’ not only for his generation but for generations to come…
Paul’s Plugs
Here are some links to stuff I have made or am making:
Shattered
So my tribute to The Twilight Zone lands in a few days. Shattered plays at York Theatre Royal on Thursday 25th May at 7.00.
Innovating
I had a blast writing this and it was wonderful to play in the archives of York Explore - so many hidden stories there! In celebration of Local History Month the drama is back and free for you to listen to!
Inspired by the history of the City of York’s coaching inns, INNovating is a three-part audio drama that evokes the sounds and stories of these vibrant places of hospitality for travellers in the 1820s, stopping off on their journey along the Great North Road.
This free audio drama is a binaural experience, best listened to through headphones.
The first 15 minute episode can be listened to on Friday 5th May with the remaining two episodes dropping on Friday 12 and 19 May. Go plug in!
For more information to to www.innovating.co.uk
If Walls Could Talk
I was commissioned to write some filmed and audio monologues for Fairfax House in York as part of the brilliant If Walls Could Talk exhibition. The mini-dramas explore how Lady Ann Fairfax was demonised for her faith, her gender and her struggles with mental health; much to everyone’s surprise she was far less fragile and far more capable than people imagined. It runs until November.
Farewell
Speaking of The West Wing a new Netflix show has landed. Debra Cahn one of TWW’s chief writers is show runner and many of the show’s creatives come from that dramatic stable. I’m 3 eps in (and it’s not in the same league) but its still better than most things and it’s giving me joy. I also invented a co-created (with two of my boys) a fun new swimming pool game which involved a pool noodle and wrestling. It was far too much fun. I do recommend inventing a new game and playing it until your smile aches. Play well and Farewell.