WHY NEW WORK?

February has been full of New Works here at AMT Theater. The reason we feel so strongly about providing space for readings is that New Works bring new faces to new places. They create dialogues and help the world to see itself. We have become so very siloed in our thinking and conversations globally, which is sad and in our small way we are trying to open up those silos and have a space for listening and talking with curiosity and generosity of spirit.

We started this month of readings with A Time of Monsters a new play by Bobby Moresco. While it is a deeply personal story it is pertinent and timeless, a beautiful and heart wrenching story of loss, betrayal, allegiances to family, friends and neighbourhoods. Even though this story is set decades ago are we not now living in a time of monsters? This play made me wonder how we can interrogate our roles in society and the choices we make, both big and small, that either contribute to the creation and sustaining of monsters or the dismantling of monstrous circumstances. All of our actions have ripple effects, so err on the side of compassion whenever you can.

Next up we had the wonderful full length play Barklee by Tom Cavanaugh. This play explores what happens when a dog is recruited to be a Service Protection Dog to a 16 year old boy who suffers from PTSD. Barklee is a dog that talks to the audience and allows us the opportunity to see his point of view. I recently found out that in 1931 China banned Alice in Wonderland "for its portrayal of anthropomorphized animals acting on the same level of complexity as human beings. The censor, General Ho Chien, believed that attributing human language to animals was an insult to humans. He feared that the book would teach children to regard humans and animals on the same level, which would be “disastrous.” ". I find this to be very distressing, that it would be disastrous for children and adults to regard animals as being on the same level as them. Thankfully Barklee has not been banned for portraying a sentient dog and the story it tells is vitally important for everyone to hear. Animals provide so much love and support to us, they absorb our pain and help us process events that are often too traumatic to express in words. They deserve to treated with dignity and respect.

We had the opportunity to partner with Abingdon Theater Company for this year's Raise the Page Uplift the Word Festival of Short Plays. ATC is committed to creating opportunities for all voices to be heard. With this in mind, we were thrilled to be producing their fifth annual Festival of Short Plays in partnership with with them, spotlighting stories written by people of color. ATC selected a series of thought provoking, humorous and interesting short plays that left me wishing it had been a week long festival. If our aim is to get out of our silos and hear more voices and see different viewpoints then this is an exceptional example of how to start that process.

Stephanie Trudeau presented a preview of her musical play Becoming Chavela last night. It was fantastic! Stephanie broke her knee on Saturday and because she is a true performer the show went on! Which is mind blowing and incredible. Teatro Maria Teresa in Guadalajara, Mexico, in partnership with AMT Theater in NYC will present a bilingual production of Becoming Chavela for a three-week residency in Guadalajara in June 2025. Last night's preview was a fundraiser for this production and if you have any spare change the please support this residency by making a tax-deductible donation here.

Today is the last day to submit your neighbourhood short plays to Mimi!

For this reading festival we wanted submissions that had the potential to talk about community, about life in all it's mess and prosaic actions. When communities come together around shared beliefs and what is meaningful to people then there is the chance for dialogue, not the type of conversation where people are trying to change minds or opinions, but rather a chance to just listen and be curious about each other so that we can bond over our shared values, of which there are more than we acknowledge most of the time.

If you're interested in reading more about how to have meaningful conversations that bridge divides then read this article by Mónica Guzmán, it is interesting and a good use of 4 minutes of your day. Here is an excerpt that I found particularly inspiring:

"...there’s a third option, and it’s inspired by Buster Benson, who wrote a book called Why Are We Yelling? He makes a distinction between talking about what is true and talking about what is meaningful, where the core of what you’re discussing is not the topic, but each other – what matters to you and what matters to me. So when you get to that impasse where you have a disagreement about facts, what I’ve found is effective is to switch the conversation from what is true to what is meaningful. 

So what does that look like? Let’s say that you’re talking with someone about elections, and they say that elections are too fraudulent or untrustworthy to be valid anymore. In that moment, you can try something like: “Okay, let’s back up for a minute. Why are elections an important issue for you? What do you think matters the most about voting?” Those questions will bring up people’s values, and once you’re talking about values, you can find common ground. The conventional wisdom is that people who don’t share politics don’t share values. The research I’ve done has shown me that we all share values; we just stack them differently. Nobody hates freedom, nobody hates safety, nobody hates treating people fairly." 

And just to leave you with another random piece of slightly distressing information that I found:

1985 – London Schools Ban The Tale of Peter Rabbit

The Inner London Education Council bans Beatrix Potter’s 1902 classic The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny from all London schools. The council objected that the books showed only “middle-class rabbits” with “too much privilege.”

JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER, LISTEN AND BE CURIOUS!