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!!

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!