Theatre and Truth

Thank you Joe for a wonderful prompt!
Let's see, two productions that come to mind... I will have to reference shows I have been involved in. The first production that pops out in my mind, is Children of  a Lesser God. I was in this production in high school, and to this day I still remember the reaction from the community. This show is one that I will always be happy that I was a part of, due to the fact that the plot really struck a chord with those that came and saw the show. The show is a about a deaf school and the trials and tribulations of being deaf and also finding your voice even if you may not be able to hear it. This production is closest to my heart, because we worked with fellow members of the community from the deaf school in town and really got a hands on experience from them, an insight of what it is really like to be deaf and live in such a loud and noisy world. This reminded me of the article Scott Magelssen wrote about the American Iraq performers in the Sand Box, having a first hand point of view to hopefully change the way we communicate with each other in war situations. We used the community to help us which, in turn brought and even better audience to the theatre because they knew we were trying to convey the closest  truth as possible, walking a day in their shoes, so to speak. Many times we had an entirely deaf audience, which finally called attention to them and gave them a piece of theatre that could reflect a sort of truth within their lives, which is not always represented in the art world, and society in general.

A show which I think brought about a new spin on truth, was a production of Flags by Jane Martin. This play is about a family that looses their son on a deployment to Iraq and how they deal with the distress. The family is angry with the media and their over invasive reporting and the governments motives for going to war in the first place, and as an act of protest, they hang their American flag upside down in their front lawn.  This spins the community into a rebellion against the family, and members of the community that were before honoring the son that had been lost, now torment the family for hanging their flag, spitting on them, robbing them, breaking windows and eventually rioting around the home to take the flag down, resulting in the shooting of their other son, on the roof of their home, while trying to remove the flag. This brought about a new sense of truth for the audience; that we act as if we support the fallen soldiers and the war abroad, when in reality we are still fighting our own wars at home, we may very well be part of the problem, and though we don't have the outward appearance of a war torn country like that of Iraq, we still can turn on each other, when we need each other most.

Personally, I think that verbatim truth, performances that offer truth, both are striving to awaken and ignite some kind truth which we may or may not be aware of, and that any theatre that is trying to spark thought and recognition is a good thing. Which is better? I don't have an answer to that, but what I will say, is that it is better to try and make a point and bring about change than to just comment on it, and pretend as if there aren't issues and injustices going on in the world and societies around us.