Oskar Eustis: Why theater is essential to democracy
Oskar Eustis: Por que o teatro é essencial à democracia
As the artistic director of New York's legendary Public Theater, Oskar Eustis nurtures new, groundbreaking works that shift the cultural conversation. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
porque a democracia é importante.
art form of democracy,
básica da democracia,
they were born in the same city.
na mesma cidade.
muito parcial e falha,
ter origem na aprovação dos governados,
from the consent of the governed,
from below to above,
fluir de baixo para cima,
legend has it, somebody named Thespis --
inventou a ideia do diálogo.
the Festival of Dionysus gathered
ao lado da Acrópole,
they would watch dancing,
assistiam a danças
como parte da Festa Dionisíaca.
as part of the Festival of Dionysus.
what's happening right now:
o que está acontecendo agora:
sou a autoridade unitária
and you are receiving what I have to say.
escutando o que tenho a dizer.
you may think I'm an insufferable fool,
achar que sou um tolo insuportável,
taking place inside your own head.
sobretudo na sua cabeça.
instead of me talking to you --
onstage with me?
comigo no palco?
não sou o detentor da verdade.
I'm not the possessor of truth;
também tem uma opinião,
ela discorda de mim.
conflict -- they disagree with me.
two points of view.
is that the truth can only emerge
que a verdade só pode surgir
of different points of view.
de vista diferentes.
you have to believe that.
tem que acreditar nisso.
you're an autocrat
que está só aturando a democracia.
básica da democracia:
pontos de vista leva à verdade.
points of views leads to the truth.
sentados e me ouvirem.
and listen to me.
inclinarem para a frente
to me as a character.
que desviem suas mentes
to switch your mind
to the other person talking.
a outra pessoa que está falando.
from the collision of different ideas
da colisão de ideias diferentes
for democratic citizenship.
para a cidadania democrática.
that when you go to the movies,
que, quando vamos ao cinema,
and if it's empty, you're delighted,
ficamos satisfeitos,
e o filme: podemos nos esparramar,
between you and the movie.
over the top of the stadium seats,
comer a pipoca e aproveitar.
parte de uma plateia.
the collective experience
criamos expectativas juntos
holding your breath together
como um consumidor individual,
as an individual consumer,
of yourself as part of a whole,
de nós como parte de um todo,
da minha forma artística.
Joe Papp decided
Joe Papp decidiu
everybody in the United States of America,
pertencer a todos nos EUA,
to try to deliver on that promise.
fazer cumprir essa promessa.
Shakespeare in the Park",
is based on a very simple idea,
a melhor arte que podemos produzir,
the best art that we can produce,
and belong to everybody,
de verão no Central Park,
we can provide for free.
que se pode fazer e gratuitamente.
after he figured that out,
circle was not complete
não estava completo
create their own classics
criassem seus próprios clássicos
downtown on Astor Place,
na Astor Place,
foi a estreia mundial de "Hair".
was the world premiere of "Hair."
que não era de Shakespeare.
that wasn't Shakespeare.
que parecia que Papp pegou uma vassoura
that it was as if Mr. Papp took a broom
from the East Village streets
das ruas do East Village
de tão orgulhoso que ficou.
he was so proud of it.
the next years with amazing shows like
seguintes, com shows fantásticos como
Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf",
Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf,"
example I can think of:
no qual consigo pensar:
about the AIDS crisis,
sobre a crise da AIDS,
that play in 1985,
essa peça, em 1985,
in the New York Times
no The New York Times
in the previous four years.
nos quatro anos anteriores.
the dialogue about AIDS
o diálogo sobre a AIDS
e Joe, ao produzi-la.
em "Angels in America", de Tony Kushner
on Tony Kushner's "Angels in America,"
e juntamente com "The Normal Heart",
and along with "Normal Heart,"
was actually shifting,
estava mesmo mudando
do que era ser gay nos EUA.
in the United States.
at the Public in 2005,
do Joe no Public Theater em 2005,
was a victim of our own success,
era vítima do nosso próprio sucesso:
had been founded as a program for access,
como um programa para se ter acesso
to get in New York City.
de se conseguir em Nova York.
to get those tickets.
para conseguir os ingressos.
de ao menos considerar ir.
98 percent of the population
to homeless shelters,
abrigos e centros comunitários
e ao município de Westchester.
and Westchester County.
that we knew intuitively:
de que sabíamos intuitivamente:
is as powerful as their desire for food
por comida ou bebida.
and we've continued it.
e nós continuamos.
that we realized we weren't crossing,
que notamos não estar atravessando:
o teatro de um bem, um objeto,
from being a commodity, an object,
um conjunto de relações entre pessoas?
of the amazing Lear deBessonet,
da incrível Lear deBessonet,
concursos musicais Shakespearianos,
musical pageants,
actors and musicians
and domestic workers
e trabalhadores domésticos,
and recently incarcerated prisoners,
e prisioneiros recém-encarcerados:
atuando juntos no mesmo palco.
that artistry is not something
não é algo de posse de alguns.
in being a human being.
é inerente ao ser humano.
passar mais tempo de vida praticando.
a lot more of our lives practicing it.
of the foundational story of this country
a história da fundação desse país
Father who was a bastard immigrant orphan
das Índias Ocidentais.
the language of the people,
who spoke the language.
with a cast of black and brown people,
um elenco de negros e pardos,
for the United States,
of the American Dream.
do Sonho Americano.
a wave of patriotism in me
de patriotismo em mim
is proving to be insatiable.
se provando ser insaciável.
and it's where I want to end,
que é onde eu quero concluir,
I want to talk about.
that Vice President-elect Pence
foi ver "Hamilton" em Nova York.
some of my fellow New Yorkers booed him.
companheiros nova-iorquinos o vaiaram.
"Esse é o som da liberdade".
muito respeitosa no palco.
respectful statement from the stage,
listened to it,
of outrage, a tweetstorm,
mensagens no Twitter
we had treated him with disrespect.
que o tratamos com desrespeito.
we're getting something wrong here.
"Há algo errado aqui".
this boycott petition,
a petição de boicote
"Hamilton" anyway.
to a city near them.
they couldn't afford a ticket,
pagar o ingresso
they didn't have the connections
os contatos para conseguir os ingressos.
electoral map of the United States,
vermelho e azul dos EUA,
culturais sem fim lucrativos",
cultural institutions,"
vocês acreditariam em mim.
exactly what the economy,
exatamente o que a economia,
what technology has done,
a tecnologia fizeram:
on a large part of the country.
para uma grande parte do país.
it has to keep going.
tem que continuar.
Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Sweat."
de Lynn Nottage, vencedora do Pulitzer.
led her to write this play
a levaram a escrever essa peça
of Pennsylvania:
da Pensilvânia:
pela perda de empregos.
and we're touring it
a municípios rurais na Pensilvânia,
organizations there to try and make sure
nesses locais para nos assegurarmos
that we're trying to reach,
às pessoas que queremos,
to listen to them back
formas de escutá-las
is here for you, too."
aqui para vocês também".
that we don't know what our job is.
que não sabemos qual é nossa função.
as 'twere, a mirror to nature;
o espelho à natureza,
a vision to America
uma visão dos EUA
who all of us are individually,
quem somos individualmente,
the commonality that we need to be,
em que precisamos estar,
tentar fazer tão bem quanto pudermos.
as well as we can.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Oskar Eustis - Theater directorAs the artistic director of New York's legendary Public Theater, Oskar Eustis nurtures new, groundbreaking works that shift the cultural conversation.
Why you should listen
Throughout his career, Oskar Eustis has been dedicated to the development of new plays and the classics as a director, dramaturg and producer. Among the plays he's helped bring into being, you can count Angels in America, the Tony-winning Hamilton and Fun Home, with more new work constantly on the bubble. Throughout his career, he has also produced and directed Shakespeare in venues around the US, from prisons to Broadway, including The Public's 2017 free Shakespeare in the Park staging of Julius Ceasar that generated a national conversation.
Eustis has also directed the world premieres of plays by Philip Kan Gotanda, David Henry Hwang, Emily Mann, Suzan-Lori Parks, Ellen McLaughlin and Eduardo Machado, among many others. He's a professor of dramatic writing and arts and public policy at New York University and has held professorships at UCLA, Middlebury College and Brown University, where he founded and chaired the Trinity Rep/Brown University consortium for professional theater training. He has been Artistic Director of The Public Theater in New York since 2005.
Oskar Eustis | Speaker | TED.com