Bari Hochwald's Page

[originally posted at www.culturalweekly.com]

As we watch the live feed from Cairo’s Tahrir Square, I am brought back to similar scenes last December, as the capital of Belarus erupted in protests against a presidential election that international observers said was falsified. Over 1000 people were beaten and thrown into jail. Among them were members of the Belarus Free Theatre, a theatre that began in 2005 during…

As the State of the Union address ends tonight I am heartened with the hope that we will find a leadership which works across party lines to manifest the best future for our country. However, I am concerned that the future the President mapped for us did not contain one mention of the arts or our culture.

The NEA is a necessary aspect of the economic life of this country. There is no argument against the fact that the arts are a major industry in our United States. …

The more I think about theatre, the more I find myself asking what theatre truly is. I am more and more sure we will only know this when we understand the scope of what theatre, truly, can do.

Essentially, theatre must tell a story and that story, using as many senses of the human imagination as possible, must carry an audience into its depths and heights while, at the same time, reminding them that those depths and heights are within themselves as well.

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