Oskar Eustis: Why theater is essential to democracy
Oskar Eustis: Porque é 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,
essencial à democracia.
they were born in the same city.
na mesma cidade.
from the consent of the governed,
do consentimento dos governados,
from below to above,
de baixo para cima
legend has it, somebody named Thespis --
— segundo a lenda, foi Téspis —
inventar o diálogo?
the Festival of Dionysus gathered
they would watch dancing,
e contavam-se histórias.
as part of the Festival of Dionysus.
do Festival de Dionísio.
what's happening right now:
com o que acontece aqui.
and you are receiving what I have to say.
a receber o que eu tenho a dizer.
you may think I'm an insufferable fool,
pensar que eu sou um idiota insuportável,
taking place inside your own head.
dentro da vossa cabeça.
instead of me talking to you --
em vez de eu falar convosco
onstage with me?
aqui no palco comigo?
I'm not the possessor of truth;
eu já não sou detentor da verdade.
conflict -- they disagree with me.
há um conflito — discorda de mim.
two points of view.
is that the truth can only emerge
só pode surgir
of different points of view.
pontos de vista.
you have to believe that.
têm de acreditar nisto.
you're an autocrat
points of views leads to the truth.
leva à verdade.
para se recostarem e escutarem.
and listen to me.
to me as a character.
enquanto pessoa.
to switch your mind
o vosso estado de espírito
to the other person talking.
a outra pessoa que está a falar.
from the collision of different ideas
do choque de ideias diferentes
for democratic citizenship.
à cidadania democrática.
that when you go to the movies,
que, quando vamos ao cinema,
and if it's empty, you're delighted,
e, se estiver vazio, ficamos encantados,
between you and the movie.
entre nós e o filme.
pôr os pés em cima da cadeira,
over the top of the stadium seats,
para fazer parte de um público.
the collective experience
a experiência coletiva
holding your breath together
de reter a respiração em conjunto,
as an individual consumer,
como um consumidor individual
of yourself as part of a whole,
de fazermos parte de um todo,
da minha forma de arte.
Joe Papp decided
Joe Papp decidiu
everybody in the United States of America,
a toda a gente, nos EUA,
to try to deliver on that promise.
cumprir essa promessa.
is based on a very simple idea,
baseia-se numa ideia simples,
the best art that we can produce,
a melhor arte que podemos produzir
and belong to everybody,
e pertencer a toda a gente.
em Central Park,
we can provide for free.
que podemos oferecer, gratuitamente.
after he figured that out,
de ele perceber isso,
circle was not complete
apenas os clássicos.
create their own classics
criar os seus clássicos
downtown on Astor Place,
na baixa, na Praça Astor.
was the world premiere of "Hair."
foi a estreia mundial de "Hair".
that wasn't Shakespeare.
sem ser Shakespeare.
que Mr. Papp tinha agarrado numa vassoura
that it was as if Mr. Papp took a broom
from the East Village streets
das ruas de East Village
he was so proud of it.
sentiu-se muito orgulhoso com aquilo.
the next years with amazing shows like
nos anos seguintes,
Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf,"
Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf,"
example I can think of:
em que posso pensar:
about the AIDS crisis,
sobre a crise da SIDA:
that play in 1985,
essa peça, em 1985,
in the New York Times
no New York Times
in the previous four years.
nos quatro anos anteriores.
the dialogue about AIDS
on Tony Kushner's "Angels in America,"
em "Angels in America," de Tony Kushner
and along with "Normal Heart,"
assim como com "Normal Heart",
was actually shifting,
estava mesmo a mudar.
in the United States.
ser "gay" nos EUA.
at the Public in 2005,
de Joe no Public, em 2005,
was a victim of our own success,
era sermos vítimas do nosso êxito.
had been founded as a program for access,
tinha sido criado como programa de acesso
to get in New York City.
de arranjar em Nova Iorque.
to get those tickets.
duas noites para arranjar um bilhete.
98 percent of the population
de pensar sequer em lá ir.
to homeless shelters,
aos refúgios dos sem-abrigo,
das cinco freguesias
and Westchester County.
e ao condado de Westchester.
that we knew intuitively:
que conhecíamos intuitivamente:
is as powerful as their desire for food
como o desejo de comida ou de bebida.
and we've continued it.
e temos continuado.
that we realized we weren't crossing,
que não estávamos a ultrapassar,
from being a commodity, an object,
de ser um bem, um objeto,
of the amazing Lear deBessonet,
shakespearianos
musical pageants,
actors and musicians
galardoados com o Prémio Tony
and domestic workers
empregadas domésticas,
and recently incarcerated prisoners,
e prisioneiros recém-presos,
that artistry is not something
não é uma coisa
in being a human being.
ao ser humano.
a lot more of our lives practicing it.
muito mais tempo da vida a exercê-lo.
of the foundational story of this country
da fundação deste país de Lin-Manuel
Father who was a bastard immigrant orphan
que era um órfão bastardo e imigrante
tinha feito.
the language of the people,
na linguagem do povo,
who spoke the language.
with a cast of black and brown people,
por pessoas de cor,
for the United States,
para os EUA,
do que este país podia ser,
of the American Dream.
do Sonho Americano.
a wave of patriotism in me
de patriotismo em mim
is proving to be insatiable.
and it's where I want to end,
com a qual quero terminar.
I want to talk about.
que o vice-presidente Pence
that Vice President-elect Pence
some of my fellow New Yorkers booed him.
nova-iorquinos apuparam-no.
respectful statement from the stage,
uma declaração muito respeitosa
listened to it,
of outrage, a tweetstorm,
uma tempestade de "tweets"
do "Hamilton" pela Internet
we had treated him with disrespect.
que lhes tínhamos faltado ao respeito.
we're getting something wrong here.
que havia qualquer coisa de errado.
this boycott petition,
a petição de boicote
"Hamilton" anyway.
to a city near them.
they couldn't afford a ticket,
comprar um bilhete
they didn't have the connections
que lhes arranjasse esse bilhete.
electoral map of the United States,
do mapa eleitoral dos EUA,
cultural institutions,"
culturais sem fins lucrativos",
exactly what the economy,
o que a economia,
what technology has done,
o que a tecnologia tem feito,
on a large part of the country.
a uma grande parte do país.
it has to keep going.
vamos enviar em digressão
Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Sweat."
o Prémio Pulitzer: "Sweat",
led her to write this play
em Redding, na Pensilvânia,
sobre a desindustrialização da Pensilvânia
of Pennsylvania:
quando o aço se foi embora,
and we're touring it
organizations there to try and make sure
das comunidades locais
que queremos alcançar
that we're trying to reach,
to listen to them back
de as escutar e dizer-lhes:
is here for you, too."
para vocês também".
that we don't know what our job is.
que ignoramos qual é o nosso papel.
as 'twere, a mirror to nature;
"... é ser o espelho da natureza,
e os seus traços".
a vision to America
à América uma imagem
who all of us are individually,
individualmente
the commonality that we need to be,
dessa comunidade que devemos ser,
enquanto país.
as well as we can.
o melhor que podemos.
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