As evolution continues to gain prevalence in the minds of many around the globe and science and faith begin down a path that remains open to intersection, a new enlightened spiritualism has taken up the occupancy of my thoughts.
Jah Orisha: Son, your Gods are what you make them. Gods answer the names that you give them. It’s the power you have, son. To name, even your Gods! Don’t give up that power. Don’t give up that glory to name and create your own world.
Traveler-X: What? Did I hear you right? Did you say power to create my world? But I have no such power! (Onwueme, 20)
As I’ve come into adulthood over the past decade I have found myself disconnected from the religious traditions and ideas I grew up with. The world of theatre has become a place to question and pursue a new definition for spirituality and enlightenment in my life. Tess Onwueme’s "Riot in Heaven" has given rise to a new sense of power in my being. God(s) have always been the object of human worship, praise, and justification, yet how often do we acknowledge our own role/power in creating the God’s/Gods’ status? This is precisely what the above selection forced me to confront, and I realized that something I’ve begun to believe resonates boldly in the above passage from "Riot in Heaven."
We are not created in the image of God, but as God, here in this realm called the Universe. With both the power to create and destroy life, as well as give shape to that which we experience in our consciousness by naming, we can no longer lead an existence that releases responsibility to something we’ve named ourselves – God.
God exists within each and every creature of the universe – it is energy. Our study of Yoruba culture and performance makes me feel less awkward about the crazy improvisational movements I do to music in the privacy of my home that I claim to be exercise/aerobics. It’s expression. It’s me getting out that which is within…
We live a spiral existence, infinitely continuing along a path that we call time… yet indeed time does not exist. No past or future, only present choices that shape the now. This is where I wish to live, instead of a distant future. How could releasing the idea of an external God(s) encourage the citizens of planet Earth to take greater responsibility for their lives and choices? The path of one is the path of many, and we must see the importance of global community – theatre can help us to create that unity.
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This makes me realize how often theatre is a simultaneous process of paying homage while asking questions and spirituality is rich material for any existential questioning. “Why are we here?” and “How do we keep balance in the world?” are a couple recurring cultural questions, I believe. If we adopt any physical aspects of any play we’ve read to this point we pay respects to those who created the form by expressing our selves physically through that form as well as attempting to use their frame of reference to ask our questions.
This is where I get a bit self-contradictory. In matters of religion—how to view “God”, what type of spirit realm exits, etc.—I step lightly. I have my definite ideas, beliefs and faith but I am not going to impose my specific cosmological view as the only correct way of seeing existence. In the other hand, work that deals with topics of racism and racial/cultural supremacy need to be definitely and clearly didactic but presented carefully. If a racist and ignorant attitude and world view is reinforced in an individual by what I do on stage, I’d rather not present that material. Knowing that what is on stage is a fiction allows for individuals to examine themselves within something of a “safe place” so to speak; it somehow permits us to identify with the characters’ attitudes and desires. “Invisible” public performances can be effective but, for me, when it comes to race relations and perception outweighs intent.
Exploring and celebrating the spiritual commonality of all humanity in my stage work is one way for me to attempt to bridge these contradictions.
This is a very interesting post you have here for a number of reasons. Like you I felt like some of the material in class forced me to challenge the way I looked at the world. Specifically the stuff we studied about Yoruba Ritual. The whole idea that the physical and meta-physical world exist on the same plane was an idea I allowed my self to embrace. Whereas before we'd started studying it I thought about it differently.
I think theatre and spirituality are very powerful when they are done together. Like you Conrad I was raised in a Christian(Pentecostal, C.O.G.I.C) church. At church I performed on a theatre troupe. The job of the troupe was much like a praise and worship team. We were responsible for ushering in the Holy Spirit which often meant using our bodies as the medium for which the Holy Spirit appeared while we performed. It was nothing for an actor to lose him of herself to the Holy Spirit while we performed. This is the same thing that is done in the Yoruba Ritual in a sense and also seems to be the basis for Butho performance.
I wish I would have made this connection while we studied Yoruba Ritual because I think I would have make interesting discussion. The point that I am trying to make is that I feel like exploring spirituality in the acting I did in church growing up gave me something that we don't teach in American class rooms. I think I my be embarking on a new acting technique! lol
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