Hello Internet, my name is Jake Beamer and I am a second year Graduate
student at the University of Louisville, pursuing my MFA in
performance. I was born and raised in Louisville, specifically Pleasure
Ridge Park, so I am very familiar with Louisville, especially South
West Jefferson County. I received my undergraduate degree from the
University of Kentucky, and I spent two years in California working for
a non-profit children's theatre. In terms of what kinds of theatre I
have worked in or with, my repetoire runs the gamus, however, I have
yet to work in Community-Based Theatre, which is why this particular
class and the adventure we are about to take is so exciting!

What is Community? For me, a community is a group of people that have a link to
one another - connections from geography to culture, faith to
knowledge, and everything in between. Community is a familiarity you
have with other people, one in which you take pride and are willing to
promote, promote its health, wellness and sustainability. Every human
being on the planet belongs to one community or another and most people
have many communities they call their own. Some of my communities
include: theatre, UK alumni, UofL student, Graduate student, scientist,
iPhone owner, Harry Potter fan, gay, stage combatant,
Shakespeare-lover, liberal, actor, Louisville...the list goes on and
on. I'd be hard pressed to find anyone who does NOT belong to at least
one community. Even isolated hermits are part of the Hermit Community,
even though they may disagree. Whether or not they self-identify
doesn't mean they are not part of a community that prides itself on not
self-identifying. If you identify as something, anything, there is a
community out there somewhere that will gladly accept you as one of
their own.

I'm excited about this class because I'll be experimenting
with community-based theatre for the first time and I want to create an
exciting piece of theatre that raises awareness about a particular
issue within a community. Hopefully the process and the production will
lead to a dialogue as to why people feel for or against the issue at
hand. And perhaps that will lead people to rethink their opinions. I'm
not expecting anyone to change, that is asking too much. But I'd like
to tell another side of the story. So, going against the preamble of
most curtain speeches in the theatre, I ask you NOT to sit back, relax,
and enjoy the show, but to stand up, pay attention, and get engaged!!