Compassion, Empathy and Kindness: In Theatre and Beyond

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Compassion and empathy are essential in theatre--from its inception at the written word to the performers, directors and production team. I love that it can be a tool used to dig into our humanity to pull out the recognition of ourselves in someone else--someone whom perhaps we never saw a connection to before. I'm not the only one who is attracted to the workings of a villain, of a hero with a fatal flaw, the person who does exactly what they should not do, but yet, we discover there is humanity beneath it all. Can this villain be redeemed? Can this villain show remorse? Could we say we would act differently if we were in that situation? If we were not only in that situation, but if we were that person?...

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It's The End of the World As We Know It...Or...It's Just a Radio Play...

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What do you do when you think the world is ending? Not, like, metaphorically speaking here, but literally, aliens are invading, killing, taking over; human civilization is ending, as we know it.  We've seen the movies, of course, read the books, but what would you do if it were really happening, to you, to your town, your city? 20 miles or so from your very house where you're sitting, listening to the radio and sipping tea at 8pm? Do you really know what you would do?...

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An Ode to Radio Drama

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We all have exposure to actors on the big and small screen, and many of us have the joy to experience drama from stage actors in theatre. But while we do know some of the voices behind animated characters, we don't as often think of the good ole fashioned radio actors anymore. This is no surprise since radio drama has mostly been usurped by television and film.  And believe me, I love a good movie (just saw The Double, which I raved about in a previous post), but there is something quite unique about radio drama.  And I personally have a very soft spot for it.

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