Lear Debessonet’s Odyssey and some thoughts on aesthetics in applied theatre

From ATC Executive Director Dale Savidge

I was privileged to experience a new community-based adaptation of the Odyssey, the epic poem by the Greek poet Homer which dates from the 8^th century BC. You won’t find the author mentioned in the playbill because this is a reimagining of that classic work, one of the earliest extant works of Western literature.  It has been brought alive in modern day southern California by the auteur-director Lear Debessonet and her collaborator Todd Almond and was performed from September 30-October 2, 2011 at the Old Globe in San Diego.

Lear is the director of Stillpoint Productions, whose mission statement reads:

Stillpoint Productions is a New York-based collective that creates multidisciplinary performances fueled by the collision of historical fact and contemporary imagination. Stillpoint's plays draw from eclectic source materials to open up resonant questions specific to this human moment. Combining the rhythmic and visual virtuosity of film, the raw expressiveness of dance, the rough storytelling of clowning, the relevance and humor of NPR, and the extra-ordinariness of church, Stillpoint aims to maximize, challenge, and reinvigorate theatre.

I’d known of Lear’s work in NY and especially her site-specific adaptation of Don Quixote with the Broad Street Ministry in Philadelphia, but only from a distance. I knew that she was working at the intersection of art and community, and that her work was embedded in the communities where she created it. For two years she had been interviewing people in San Diego about their lives, how they came to live in this place, and what it meant to be a member of the community. The result was The Odyssey: A Music Theatre Event.

Much has been written about the relationship between applied theatre and aesthetics. It is generally conceded that when the purpose of theatre shifts from art or entertainment to process-based experiences intended to meet human needs that the level of quality will decrease – and that it’s okay because the purpose isn’t to win an award or receive a great review. (I’ve been wondering if the criteria for awards and reviews aren’t skewed to begin with, but that’s another article.) I’m more of a “yes, and” person rather than a “no, but” person and my feeling has been that we should not concede aesthetics when our focus is on the value of the process, even when the process is applied to people who lack the training, experience or ability to create what we commonly call “good theatre.” Maybe we need a new definition of theatre aesthetics?

The Odyssey was a step forward in my thinking, because here was an artistically challenging work (akin to Lee Breuer’s Gospel at Colonus) which engaged the community on so many levels I lost count. Here were Broadway-credited performers singing alongside kids from an inner-city YMCA; a gospel choir backing up an urban hip-hop dance company; a high school percussion ensemble following a group of Globe Theatre donors. The blend was effortless, not jarring, because everyone had been united in the telling of an archetypal story with relevance to their shared life in the city of San Diego.

What struck me was that the performance by the Equity professionals was not diminished by their youthful, inexperienced collaborators; rather, the commitment the professionals brought to their parts infected the novices and in a way elevated the whole ensemble. There were no divas in this show, there were no star turns. It appeared to me that a choice had been made to create an ensemble piece, and the community performers were not merely backup singers (or a Greek chorus) but instead were central to the whole experience.  And it appeared to me that the professionals had bought into the deal without any reservations.

It was an instructive experience for me as I’ve struggled to find ways of bringing theatre to amateur or disenfranchised groups of people in Greenville, SC without unthinkingly dismissing quality and aesthetics. Such a dismissal would be an insult to the people I work with, be they students or the homeless or people on the autism spectrum. In fact, accepting high standards of theatre as our collective goal shows them the respect and value they deserve as creative people – and no matter their disability or station in life they remain creative people.

The Odyssey modeled for me how a director can attend to theatre as art and theatre as community celebration and empowerment at the same time. Congratulations to Lear and all those who collaborated with her. Put Stillpoint Productions on your radar and when the opportunity arises be sure to take in one of their productions.