Great Dollops of Optimism!

Hi everyone!

INTRO

My name is James Thompson and I'm a sophomore here at the University of Louisville. I'm majoring in both Spanish and Theatre Arts and I'm really glad I decided to enroll in this course.

COMMUNITY

When I think of a community, I think of anyone who has something in common with someone else. Literally, anything. People sharing the same birthday, for example, is a community that the Cornerstone Theatre Company targeted once.

Sure, all the obvious ones come to mind: people who share the same religion, ethnic background, skin color, social/economic status, etc. But I think that "community" extends beyond that. There are a lot of other things that people can share, things that can prompt people to say, "Oh, you have that too? Wow!"and feel a connection. For example, I think that there's a left-handed community. As a righty myself, I don't know if there's an official organization, "American Lefties Association (ALA)." But whether there is or not, I think being left-handed is something people can bond over, a shared experience or trait that can bring them together.

COMMUNITY-BASED THEATRE

I joined this class/project not having much of a clue what the terms "Ensemble Performance" or "Community-Based Art" meant. I had an idea, of course. I knew what an ensemble was, in musical terms at least, and "community-based" is pretty clear, but that was all I had; broad, vague, general ideas. Before my first meeting with the class, I read over the syllabus to try and and get a better picture of what it might involve. I assumed we'd be working as an *ensemble* to *perform* some type of *community-based* work of *art.* And that was pretty close to the truth.

But, through several articles, I was really able to flesh out that shallow idea. one that really helped came from npr.org, "Ensemble Theatre At The Humana Festival,"

"What's called ensemble theatre isn't easy for anyone involved. Actors work as stagehands, directors work as administrators, the lighting crew helps build sets. In other words, everybody does a bit of everything. The process can take years, but it does give all of the company members a say in creating a new play."

Interesting, right? I think that's a neat community in and of itself: Everyone has their special fields, but they help out with everything else too. I don't really see that as true on a lager scale. In America: Farmers provide food; factory workers build things; CEOs run companies and make money... Although in certain cases there can be some overlap, people generally stay in their defined roles, not really ever venturing out to work on something new. I, personally, have never seen a CEO of a Fortune 500 company working in a Ford plant (unless it's on an episode of Undercover Boss or something). Not to say that there isn't one who does, I just don't think it's that likely. I find the fact that people in an ensemble company perform any job they're able, to help extend the lift of their company, really fascinating. Sort of an "It takes a village" type of mentality.

OUTRO

I'm really excited to be a part of this project. We've got a lot of great people involved (whom you've already met or soon will) and we've already spun out some really amazing ideas this early into the project. It's shaping up to be a pretty interesting experience, and I'm sure I'll enjoy the whole process.

Whatever we end up doing, I know the final product is going to be amazing. Mark your calendars to come see it on the Mainstage season at UofL!