{"id":57416,"date":"2017-09-22T08:40:06","date_gmt":"2017-09-22T12:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/?p=57416"},"modified":"2022-11-07T14:36:07","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T19:36:07","slug":"catalyst-for-common-ground","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/news\/articles\/2017\/catalyst-for-common-ground\/","title":{"rendered":"Catalyst for Common Ground"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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September 22, 2017<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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BU Orientation shares the stage with Theatre to tackle tough topics.<\/h4>\n

Spark Volume 3, Issue 1<\/a> | by Laurel Homer<\/p>\n

Terrier I.D. cards, student advising, and registration are hallmarks of student orientation. But, for the last two years, University Orientation at BU has included an unexpected component: a theatre performance.<\/p>\n

\"GOOD
Cast members of GOOD perform excerpts of the play at BU Orientation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cArt crosses boundaries,\u201d says Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore, a key producer of Boston University summer orientations. \u201cEveryone can connect with art and find a way to engage with moral issues around race and other subjects. It gives us a chance to be on the same page.\u201d<\/p>\n

The partnership was forged a few years ago when Dean Elmore approached Jim Petosa<\/a>, Director of CFA\u2019s School of Theatre<\/a>, about performing excerpts of Baltimore<\/em>. Written by Theatre faculty member Kirsten Greenidge<\/a>, the play examines the limits of racial language and conflict among a group of college students.<\/p>\n

\u201cDean Elmore is a visionary,\u201d says Petosa. \u201cThe inclusion of performance in orientations for the entire incoming population of students is recognition that theatre is an excellent platform to explore human conflict and to respond to that tension as a community in dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Elmore, the use of human expression and art to dig into difficult subject matter seemed natural. \u201cThere was some pushback initially, not from me but from others, that maybe it was too much,\u201d explains Elmore. \u201cBut I said, \u2018Yes, we can do this, they\u2019ve seen and felt art before, this is exactly what we need.\u2019 And I knew we needed to capture the moment right at the start of their BU experience, when the students are not inhibited.\u201d<\/p>\n

The response to Baltimore <\/em>and the subsequent talk-back was beyond expectation for both student and parent alike. \u201cThe conversation was really rich, much richer than had we just had a lecture or panel,\u201d says Elmore. He considered bringing the play back for summer 2017\u2019s sessions until he attended the New Repertory Theatre<\/a>\/BCAP<\/a> production of Good <\/em>last fall. The 1981 drama by C.P. Taylor is a study of a sufficiently respectable man in 1930s Germany and the compromises and allowances he is willing to make in the name of Nazi allegiance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe play opens the door to a whole new avenue of conversation,\u201d explains Petosa, who serves as Artistic Director for New Rep and directed the fall production. \u201cIt\u2019s the story of how a society is willing to change its moral stripes even when it means becoming morally bankrupt.\u201d Mounted in advance of the November presidential election, the New Rep\/BCAP production was a direct response to the political landscape in the United States, a cautionary tale of where concessions can ultimately lead, and a chilling inquiry of the capacity and culpability within every individual.<\/p>\n

The subject matter is heavy, but contemporary, and sets the stage for conversation around issues that are top of mind, but perhaps hard to articulate and address. \u201cAfter Charlottesville the relevance of this play really came into focus,\u201d says Elmore.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s jarring and scary, but I want students and parents to know that it\u2019s okay to be jarred, it\u2019s okay to be scared. We can\u2019t ignore this. We have to engage with it. It\u2019s a starting point because there will be more moments when we\u2019re jarred or scared and we can go back to this common experience, this dialogue, and take something from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim Spears (CFA\u201906,\u201911,\u201916) appeared in the New Rep production and serves as director of the summer orientation performances featuring Connor Paradis (CFA\u201919), Leo Blais (CFA\u201917), Stephanie Castillo (CFA\u201919), and Devon Stokes (CFA\u201919). Spears opted for simplicity in the staging to bring greater focus to the dialogue of the play. \u201cThe questions that these plays ask of their characters are complex and do not really contain binary answers,\u201d says Spears. \u201cBy watching stories, not necessarily our own, we are given insight into who we might be as individuals and as a community and to answer questions of our own selves in ways that we may not have realized before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dean
Dean Elmore and cast members from GOOD answer questions at the Talk Back with incoming freshman at BU Orientation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Elmore, art is the perfect conduit to examine these struggles, to reflect as individuals, and to come together in conversation as a community. \u201cThis is what society needs: to be able to go into a room, share a performance, and then have the permission to critique the subject,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Elmore is already looking forward to taking in School of Theatre\u2019s upcoming season of performances in consideration of next summer\u2019s orientation program. He is also eager to expand inspiration to include a piece of music or visual art, and hopes this model encourages other academic institutions to tackle tough subjects and foster conversation through the arts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis partnership has been a really wonderful way of bringing academics and student services together in a big collaboration,\u201d says Elmore. \u201cTo spark conversation about the human condition, to provide a construct for social incubation and innovation, and to do this all through art is just amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

A full-scale production of Good<\/em> returns to Boston University in the fall with three performances planned on campus so all students have the opportunity to explore the themes and \u201cget on the common page.\u201d Petosa looks forward to providing a fertile ground for activating more conversation around tense topics through performances on the Charles River Campus including the new Studio ONE space in 855 Commonwealth as well as the Booth Theatre set to open in early 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheatre creates an opening for complicated conversations,\u201d explains Petosa. \u201cThe Joan and Edgar Booth and other venues on campus provide immediate access to these explorations and we are poised to push the conversation in our neighborhood and in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Elmore, it is more than simply exposing students to art; it is about allowing art to create a common experience, activate thought, and fuel discussion. \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that art is a gift,\u201d says Elmore. \u201cBut, art is also a catalyst. It has a real relevance in our times to push us back to history to see how we have progressed and to see how we haven\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BU Orientation shares the stage with Theatre to tackle tough topics. Spark Volume 3, Issue 1 | by Laurel Homer Terrier I.D. cards, student advising, and registration are hallmarks of student orientation. But, for the last two years, University Orientation at BU has included an unexpected component: a theatre performance. \u201cArt crosses boundaries,\u201d says Dean […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6270,"featured_media":57449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[],"bu-publication":[192],"magazine-article-category":[],"magazine-topic":[],"news-article-category":[329],"news-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/57416"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6270"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57416"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/57416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95474,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/57416\/revisions\/95474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57416"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=57416"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-article-category?post=57416"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-topic?post=57416"},{"taxonomy":"news-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article-category?post=57416"},{"taxonomy":"news-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topic?post=57416"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=57416"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=57416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}