CRT Dramaturgy

Arab Spring (p.7) – A term given to a serious of protests and social uprisings throughout the Middle East, occurring mostly in 2011 (right before this play was written). These protests, taking place in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Lybia, and Syria, were motivated by the desire for more democratic forms of government. Many in the West looked to these events with optimism, considering them a major turning point. In some cases, authoritarian rulers were removed from power, as in Egypt. But, as we know today, these protests did not lead simply to more democratic and just societies. In some cases, new religious parties came to power (including the rise of the Islamic State), and in others civil wars and armed conflict continue. In Syria, more than 11 million people have been forced to flee the ongoing fighting.  

 

WWOOF (p. 10) – Taken from their FAQ page, “WWOOF specializes in linking people who are passionate about healthy food, healthy living and a healthy planet. Join us, show your support for the organic movement and start learning (or sharing) ways of living a more sustainable life. As a member, you will be plugged into an international network of like-minded people, with staff on the ground in 60+ countries ready to offer local advice and support.” In Lindsay’s words, this site has, “Great images of white people bringing the gospel of organic to the poor of the world and looking SO COOL and HIP doing it." See more at http://wwoof.net/.

 

Occupy Wall Street (p. 16) – Occupy Wall Street is a

social justice movement that ran from September 17,

2011 to December 2011. People camped out in Zuccotti

Park in NYC’s financial district, as well as in cities across

the world, to protest the growing income gap, capitalism,

lack of corporate social and environmental responsibility,

and a host of other issues. Its primary mission was to

protest worldwide economic inequality.

 

Marxist (p. 16) – The term refers to a political and

economic philosophy developed by Karl Marx (1818-

1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895). There are

many aspects of Marxism, and many different

branches of the philosophy today. At its core, it is an

approach to human history and society through

economics. Marx and Engels argue that capitalism is

doomed to fail because there is a division between the workers who make products and the owners who sell the products. Because capitalism sees the production of capital (i.e. money) as a good in and of itself, it will forever increase the division between the workers and the owners.

 

Capetown, South Africa (p. 33) -- Capetown is the capital of South Africa. It is a popular tourist destination due to its beaches.

 

Apartheid (p. 34) – A system of racial segregation and oppression lasting from 1941 to 1991 in South Africa.

 

William Styron (p. 35) – American novelist who lived from 1925-2006. He won the Pulitzer Prize for The Confessions of Nat Turner, about a slave who rebelled. He is also well known for Sophie’s Choice, about a Holocaust survivor. Some celebrated Styron for writing “brave” books about some of history’s ugliest periods and least represented people Others criticized him for a romanticized and stereotypical representations of African Americans and for making his career on the experiences of cultural, racial, and religious others. It might also be helpful to know that Sophie’s Choice is about a Holocaust survivor who make horrible choices to survive the camps, including pretending to hate her own people and eventually deciding which of her children will survive in the gas chamber.

 

Artist v. artisan (p. 36) – According to The Oxford English Dictionary, an artist is anyone skilled in an art. The art might be practical, scientific, or fine (ex. the art of woodworking, art of medicine, or art of theatre). An artisan is a worker or craftsperson skilled in a particular trade. Artisan carries with it something of a class distinction—someone more than an unskilled wage laborer but lower in status than a property owner. In common usage, artists make things for aesthetic reasons (beauty) while artisans make them for practical ones (your scarf might be beautiful, but it also serves a purpose).

 

The Cove (film) (p. 37) – A 2009 documentary about the underground practice of killing dolphins on the coast of japan.

 

Chick-Fil-A (and anti-gay politics) (p. 47) – Chick-Fil-A has been the center of controversy many times due to the company’s donations to anti-LGBT groups. See https://thinkprogress.org/why-chick-fil-as-anti-lgbt-giving-is-still-a-problem-88634cd34a81/

 

Zero Dark Thirty (p. 56) – Zero Dark Thirty was a 2012 film about the hunt for Osama

bin Laden. It featured Jessica Chastain as a CIA agent key in the search for bin Laden. This

film caused a media stir for several reasons. First, it not only highlighted the role of

women in the CIA, but it was also directed by a woman, Katherine Bigelow, who had

previously won an Oscar for the film The Hurt Locker (NOTE: First woman to win an

Oscar for directing!), and is currently making headlines with Detroit. Bigelow was making

a name for herself with films about the military—something rather unprecedented for a

female director. While this was largely celebrated as an advancement for women in the

film industry, many also pointed out how problematic is was that a woman was winning

when she took on traditionally masculine themes and stories. Second, even before it was

released, the film inspired a social media storm on the issue of whether or not it endorsed

torture. For more information on this uproar, visit the Pinterest page.

 

Nietzsche – the abyss (p. 59) – Neitzsche is a German philosopher who lived from

1844-1900. He critiqued traditional morals and religions, proposing than individuals must

find their own value systems. He wrote about morality as either that which the powerful

declare as “good” or that which the powerless, in reaction to their oppression, declare as

“good” instead. Thus, morality is produced in human society through relationships of

power, and any conflict between “good and evil” is a representation of these power

dynamics. Later, Neitzsche’s ideas, particularly that of the Ubermench or superman, would be taken up in a problematic way by the Nazis. This reference to the abyss from Nietzsche’s book Beyond Good and Evil, in which he writes, "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you." (You may find other variations depending on translation.) Now, at first glance it sounds like this quote means that you should beware of becoming evil in the fight against evil, just as the characters in the play assume. Given what Nietzsche thinks about the idea of “evil,” however, that’s probably a huge oversimplification! Nietzsche’s main philosophy was about thinking for yourself, making conscious choices about who you are and what you believe – i.e. not letting yourself be led mindlessly – in which case the “abyss” might simply be thinking the way others think. On the other hand, many philosophers have pointed out that this quote is taken out of context, and if we look at the original context, the abyss, for Nietzsche, is nihilism or the idea that nothing has meaning, and he’s saying, “don’t give in to nihilism.” Given the context of our play, might we think of the abyss as social media?