Applied Theatre
Changing the World through Performance and Play
by Lisa A Kramer
Did you know that there are people around the world who understand the power of creativity, the arts, and collaboration to make real difference in the world?
Yes, I've been talking about this important power for a while now, but this isn't about me. My desire to change the world one creative act at a time sits on the foundation of amazing people who have been doing this, in their own way, for years. Their is a community of artists, performers, social activists, educators, writers, therapists, scientists, politicians etc., etc. who strive each day to create and collaborate in ways that encourage communities to develop and create a truly just world.
Call them Performance Activists. Call them "multipotentialites." Call them clowns....
Yes, I've been talking about this important power for a while now, but this isn't about me. My desire to change the world one creative act at a time sits on the foundation of amazing people who have been doing this, in their own way, for years. Their is a community of artists, performers, social activists, educators, writers, therapists, scientists, politicians etc., etc. who strive each day to create and collaborate in ways that encourage communities to develop and create a truly just world.
Call them Performance Activists. Call them "multipotentialites." Call them clowns....
Play is Serious Work
by Lisa A Kramer
"I always think that focusing on fun is being lazy."
The woman who typed these words had just asked a question about how to get motivated in the face of debilitating physical challenges that are affecting her work and her ability to produce. The expert leading this workshop responded that sometimes we simply need to focus on joy and having fun--especially when faced with so many obstacles.
Yet, this woman--dealing with more challenges than many of us--struggles with an issue that has been ingrained into the American psyche, to the detriment of us all. The idea that play or fun has nothing to do with work.
We've been taught that somehow playing is childish and a waste of time. Imaginative play...
The woman who typed these words had just asked a question about how to get motivated in the face of debilitating physical challenges that are affecting her work and her ability to produce. The expert leading this workshop responded that sometimes we simply need to focus on joy and having fun--especially when faced with so many obstacles.
Yet, this woman--dealing with more challenges than many of us--struggles with an issue that has been ingrained into the American psyche, to the detriment of us all. The idea that play or fun has nothing to do with work.
We've been taught that somehow playing is childish and a waste of time. Imaginative play...
Learning Literary and Life Lessons #NESCBWI14
by Lisa A Kramer
"Because I wasn't mad I saw something beautiful. I saw a color I had never seen before." (Peter Reynolds)
In his keynote address at the NESCBWI conference yesterday, Peter Reynolds--award-winning author and illustrator of North Star, The Dot, and Ish--shared his philosophies on writing, life, art and the way he creates. The above quote comes from a story he told about his (then) young daughter pouring water over his entire paint set thereby creating a color he could not describe. That color, eventually, made its way into his book, The Dot
.
His talk resonated with me on so many levels. From his idea that there are "two kinds of adults in the world"--adult adults and child adults--to his attitude that he is "a gentle rebel. Rules are...
The Power of the Arts
by Lisa A Kramer
I have been silent for several weeks.
I suppose you could argue that I had writer's block, but it's more than that. I have grown tired of the words that seem to flood our existence, but change nothing as people hold stubbornly to their belief systems unwilling to hear or read the logic in an argument. I no longer felt the desire to contribute to the cacophony, because it seemed like even the most eloquent and truthful words get lost in the mire of meanness that seems to flood the internet wherever you look.
However, today I read an article that makes me want to climb up on my soapbox again, and shout words until somebody listens. The Washington Post published an...
I suppose you could argue that I had writer's block, but it's more than that. I have grown tired of the words that seem to flood our existence, but change nothing as people hold stubbornly to their belief systems unwilling to hear or read the logic in an argument. I no longer felt the desire to contribute to the cacophony, because it seemed like even the most eloquent and truthful words get lost in the mire of meanness that seems to flood the internet wherever you look.
However, today I read an article that makes me want to climb up on my soapbox again, and shout words until somebody listens. The Washington Post published an...
