Living Like a Local

Day 3 Berliner Ensemble

The Art of Sitting Still

Robert Wilson's Threepenny Opera, having been nearly three hours long, was definitely hard to sit through, and even harder to stay awake.  However, I couldn't help but to notice how fully attentive the audience was for most of the time being.  There was respect for the actor's on stage, as well as true interest in the performance given.

That got me thinking.  

The American audience is one that is hard to please.  

Why?

Well, who is an American?

My mom, a Korean realtor.

My best friend, Ashley, a Puerto Rican college student.

My neighbor, Pranav, an Indian adult.

With all the different cultures and ethnicities that is the melting pot of America, how is it possible to appease?

Day 4 Hamlet

씨발

 (Do Not Google Translate...you have been warned)

Other than the fact that my mind has thoroughly been blown away, the discussion became simply this:
whether or not this production would be possible in America.

"Fish are friends, not food."
Silly to quote Finding Nemo at a time like this but there is a reason for my madness!

The German artist is interactive and generous, so much so that a positive response comes from a sleeping member in the audience.  The audience is as much part of the performance as is the set and the other actors on stage.  They become another element of the art.

The world then, that the artists and audience is immersed into, is true.
There is acknowledgement of doors closing, cell phones buzzing, people laughing!

So, "fish are friends, not food."

In America, the saying is unfortunately reversed.

The audience becomes the actors profit.  There is no relationship, only a give and take.