So. Um. Yeah, for fear of starting some kind of flame war, or Nazis in the basement situation...Well...I just gotta...
Dude. You must. Chill. I have hidden your Firebird keys.
Seriously. I don't even really have words. What James says here is pretty good. (Isaac ain't too bad, either.) But, since I'm me, I'll go on a bit more.
What I was talking about here is personal joy, the joy of creation, the joy of connecting with other people, your collaborators, your audience. I'm talking about the feeling we have when we do good work. I'm not talking about making people happy or feel good or whatever you're talking about. Beckett writes some pretty dark, hard, complicated stuff, but for all of that, there is still a palpable sense of joy to his work. Whatever nihilistic philosophy you work with, I do think that without some sense of joy in it, it won't live in the world.
I was planning to talk about this a bit more, but yeah, I like comedies and I like making people laugh. But that's me. I don't insist that everyone stop writing their "serious" plays and start flinging pies and slipping on banana peels. There's room for everything out there.
So...you know...relax, dude.
(A kind of dubious h/t to Isaac...uh, thanks?)
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3 comments:
As a theatre artist, I often (though not always) gravitate towards work that explores or even revels in the "darker experience", and you know what? I do it because I get joy out of it. The new playwright you talked about might have written about the darkest human experiences ever conceived, but the joy in seeing her work come to life for the first time could still emanate from her like a "warm, comforting smell."
Your post was a small moment of inspiration for me and I forwarded it to several close friends and colleagues, so thanks for writing it.
And not to start or stoke a flame war, but as a blog reader I must say that I don't read the other blog in question (just found that post through Isaac's link) but I do read yours, and it's clear from your respective writing styles that he's full of himself and you are not. Therefore I will continue reading your blog and I will not start reading his.
I found your post, "Finding Joy", incredibly inspiring as well.
Please keep writing and sharing.
Well how confusing huh - we're not supposed to look for joy in the theatre. Who knew. And those of us who see joy are the lesser for it.
Joy is essential to the arts. To life. There is joy in the art of expression (whatever experience that may be, dark or light).
I too really enjoyed your post.
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