By Travis LeMont Ballenger, American Voices New Play Institute, Senior New Play Producer and Jamie Gahlon, American Voices New Play Institute Coordinator
Go Green! The other weekend (we know, this post is a bit late) Arena went to the Green Festival. We were there to promote the show R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE. Bucky called for people to do more with less, and talked about how there were the resources world-wide to take care of all of humanity in a way that eliminated hunger and poverty and that it was just a matter of inequitable distribution that needed to be solved. In the show, he argues that we are heading on a path to either oblivion and utopia and it's up to the individual person to decide where we go. How's that for a challenge?!
Arena's Vijay Mathew, Travis Ballenger and Jamil Jude talk to interested patrons
It was incredible to be around people who are actively trying to meet this challenge. There were a remarkable number of Green-Festers truly dedicated to the saving the planet. Many of whom wondered why Arena was there. What does a theater have to do what the Sustainability Movement?
We like to think of art as an empathy machine. We create a window into a world that people may not see. Perhaps, by looking at a painting of a young girl in a war stricken village, people will be inspired to do something about it. Perhaps, by seeing R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE people will care a bit more about the world and each other. That's why we were there- because we as a theater and an artistic community have an obligation and a citizenship role in doing what we can to make Spaceship Earth a better place.
Throughout the weekend, we asked people to share with us their Bucky stories, and to respond to the question What can the little man do to save the world? What can you do? Hear their answers here and respond with yours!
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