I've been putting this off. A lot. I'm afraid of writing about Berlin because I'm sad that it's over. But I have fallen into the one habit that Berlin wanted me to shake. And that is being complacent. Because Berlin taught me that taking risks pays off. And I'm speaking of course about art and theater but also just about life. I think I've also identified what my "not quite" feeling is, and that's the complacency. The thought tht, "yeah, we're okay with this." That theater is just Wicked and The Lion King and even Hand to God and that Tony winners are the best of the best. Berlin theater demands the audience to participate. To be complicit. You aren't sitting there watching a show, you're participating. The theater I want to be a part of isn't just saying something, it's having a conversation, it's in dialogue with the world around it. And artists are the faciliatators of these conversations. And everyone is an artist. Yes even actors. (you know who you are.) I've learned that there is a difference between an artist and a careerist, an artist defines their own success while a careerist allows other to define success for them.
I think everyone who was a part of this program, myself included, has experienced the need to work. The need to create. This desire is what pushes us, and I think the artists of Berlin, to create work that is incredible and pushes the envelope. And I wish this feeling for everyone. It's spectacular, its hopeful, it helps me to not be afraid or at least to acknowledge that I am and not let that stop me. I just think that Berlin isn't asking the question, what do people want to see? But the question, what is theater? and what can theater be? And that might be cheesy but fuck you. Because I want more now. Because I demand more.
Thank you Berlin.
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