Oskar Eustis: Why theater is essential to democracy
歐斯卡 · 尤斯提斯: 為什麼戲院對民主很重要
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.
art form of democracy,
they were born in the same city.
是因為它們在同一個城市誕生。
有瑕疵的民主,
from the consent of the governed,
被治理者的同意,
from below to above,
legend has it, somebody named Thespis --
據傳說,他叫做狄斯比斯——
the Festival of Dionysus gathered
they would watch dancing,
as part of the Festival of Dionysus.
這都是戴歐尼修斯節的一部分。
what's happening right now:
and you are receiving what I have to say.
you may think I'm an insufferable fool,
可能會認為我是個惱人的傻子,
taking place inside your own head.
發生在你們自己的腦袋裡。
instead of me talking to you --
不再是由我對你們說話——
onstage with me?
I'm not the possessor of truth;
我就不是「真相擁有者」;
conflict -- they disagree with me.
他們不認同我說的。
two points of view.
is that the truth can only emerge
唯一會有真相浮現的地方,
of different points of view.
you have to believe that.
you're an autocrat
points of views leads to the truth.
and listen to me.
to me as a character.
看起來跟感覺起來就是這樣子的。
to switch your mind
to the other person talking.
在說話的人,感覺是什麼。
from the collision of different ideas
這個概念,
for democratic citizenship.
that when you go to the movies,
都知道,去看電影時,
and if it's empty, you're delighted,
發現影廳中都沒人,你會很開心,
between you and the movie.
over the top of the stadium seats,
把腳放到前排的椅子上,
the collective experience
holding your breath together
as an individual consumer,
或許只是一個個體的客人,
of yourself as part of a whole,
你會覺得你自己是整體的一部分,
Joe Papp decided
everybody in the United States of America,
to try to deliver on that promise.
免費莎士比亞」戲院。
is based on a very simple idea,
根據很簡單的想法,
the best art that we can produce,
我們所能產出最好的藝術,
and belong to everybody,
應該屬於每個人,
we can provide for free.
after he figured that out,
這件事的 13 年後,
circle was not complete
create their own classics
去創作他們自己的經典,
downtown on Astor Place,
開了一間公眾劇院,
was the world premiere of "Hair."
就是《毛髮》的首演。
that wasn't Shakespeare.
不是莎士比亞的戲劇。
that it was as if Mr. Papp took a broom
那彷彿就是帕普拿了一支掃帚,
from the East Village streets
所有拒絕,通通掃到
he was so proud of it.
陳列在大廳,他感到好驕傲。
the next years with amazing shows like
公眾劇院有許多出色的節目,
Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf,"
就要考慮自殺的有色女孩》、
example I can think of:
最不凡的例子:
about the AIDS crisis,
而發出野性吶喊的作品,
that play in 1985,
製作那齣劇作的時候,
法蘭克瑞奇的評論中,
in the New York Times
in the previous four years.
加起來都還要多。
the dialogue about AIDS
on Tony Kushner's "Angels in America,"
東尼庫許納的《天使在美國》,
and along with "Normal Heart,"
was actually shifting,
in the United States.
at the Public in 2005,
喬瑟夫在公眾劇院的工作,
was a victim of our own success,
其實是由我們自己的成功所造成,
had been founded as a program for access,
是要成為大家都可使用的計畫,
to get in New York City.
to get those tickets.
兩個晚上,才能買到票。
98 percent of the population
to homeless shelters,
and Westchester County.
that we knew intuitively:
和我們本來的直覺相符:
is as powerful as their desire for food
和他們對食物或飲水的慾望
and we've continued it.
我們還在持繼進行。
that we realized we weren't crossing,
我們一直都還沒跨越,
from being a commodity, an object,
從一種商品、一個物體,
of the amazing Lear deBessonet,
很了不起的指導之下,
musical pageants,
actors and musicians
and domestic workers
國內的工人、退伍軍人、
and recently incarcerated prisoners,
業餘玩家,以及職業專家
that artistry is not something
in being a human being.
a lot more of our lives practicing it.
花了更多時間在練習它。
of the foundational story of this country
開國故事的不凡之作,
Father who was a bastard immigrant orphan
而他是來自西印度群島的
the language of the people,
who spoke the language.
with a cast of black and brown people,
全部都是黑色和褐色皮膚的人,
for the United States,
能夠成為什麼樣子的看法,
of the American Dream.
a wave of patriotism in me
is proving to be insatiable.
是不會被滿足的。
and it's where I want to end,
我想用這個面向來作結,
I want to talk about.
that Vice President-elect Pence
當選而尚未就任的副總統彭斯
some of my fellow New Yorkers booed him.
對他發出噓聲。
respectful statement from the stage,
我認為非常有敬意的聲明,
listened to it,
of outrage, a tweetstorm,
一項網路抵制活動,
we had treated him with disrespect.
他們覺得我們不尊重他。
we're getting something wrong here.
我們有什麼地方出了差錯。
this boycott petition,
"Hamilton" anyway.
to a city near them.
他們鄰近的城市演出。
they couldn't afford a ticket,
they didn't have the connections
electoral map of the United States,
和紅色的美國選舉地圖,
cultural institutions,"
exactly what the economy,
完全和在經濟上、
what technology has done,
on a large part of the country.
it has to keep going.
得要持續下去。
Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Sweat."
普立茲獎的出色劇作《汗水》。
led her to write this play
在賓州的雷丁做研究,
of Pennsylvania:
and we're touring it
organizations there to try and make sure
我們試圖觸及的族群,
that we're trying to reach,
to listen to them back
反過來傾聽他們的聲音,
is here for you, too."
that we don't know what our job is.
我們的職責是什麼。
藝術形式的 DNA 當中。
as 'twere, a mirror to nature;
「彷彿要舉起大自然的鏡子,
a vision to America
who all of us are individually,
我們每個人各別的身份,
the commonality that we need to be,
重新成為我們需要成為的共性,
as well as we can.
試著去做的事。
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