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192: Can Art Build Trust & Love Between Separated Communities?
Description
What can happen when art carries people across
boundaries they rarely cross?
in 2019, a remarkable theater project brought together two very different communities: rural largely white Brussels, Illinois, and the predominantly Black St. Louis-area communities of Normandy and Pagedale, Missouri. Separated by the Mississippi River—and by race, geography, and very different assumptions about one another—they became collaborators in a new version of Shakespeare’s As You Like It.
Under the direction of artist/activist/educator Kathi Bentley students, teachers, residents, artists, and audiences traveled by bus and ferry between the two communities. Along the way, strangers became castmates, hosts, guests, and friends.
This reprise show is the first in a four-episode journey exploring what can happen when artists enter communities, cross into unfamiliar territory, and create the conditions for people to hear and change one another’s stories.
Threshold Questions and Juicy Quotes:
Can collective creation change settled world views?
I mean, there are a couple of Mexican families in Brussels. They're no black folks. So, I would always kid that I was like, you know, that's a cute little house, and if I bought that, I'd be okay. Like, yeah. You know, for some of those students, this was prayerfully life changing in how they see folks and communities that are different than them and for our students from Normandy.
Can we build lasting bridges between communities separated by race and culture?
You’ve got to have people love each other. You’ve got to have people like, "Can't wait to see you at rehearsal."... because then on stage, I got your back ... that experience it was so affirming to me about the power of just having people just talk to each other, you know, so they fell in love with each other. I fell in love with them.
What kind of leadership grows community ownership and accountability?
I'm humbled by the whole experience. You know, because often people don't know or really care who the director is, and that's okay. That's my goal. So, it's nice to just be on the ferry and nobody know what my roll was in it and hear people like, this is so cool. Oh my gosh, I can't believe we're doing this.
Notable Mentions
St. Louis Shakespeare Festival:
CHIPS Health: Community Health-In-Partnership Services (d/b/a CHIPS Health and Wellness Center) is the place where uninsured and underserved people in the St. Louis metropolitan area can receive free primary and preventive health care services.
Bread and Roses Missouri An organization with the mission of organizing arts and humanities projects about workers and their families.