I believe in the ghost light in theatres on a spiritual level. Of course, it is for safety, but it is also to remind us that we shall prevail. We are not shuttered forever. I realized while thinking of this blog that the reason theatre and I are so close is that we both have two middle fingers and a mohawk. That image represents my favorite movie phrase "Never give up, never surrender". Here is what occurred to me this morning, to prove that it takes a strong will to endure as a theatre person: The ghost light is the spirit of theatre, our collective mohawk that shines as a beacon to our souls. It is a symbol of our strength.
The Greek theatre survived being conquered by Rome, who then stole the Greek gods and theatre.The Greeks infected their conquering nation with their own culture.That's so punk rock.
In 1592 the Globe theatre was closed by plague. No biggie, they reopened afterwords and kept on going. Never mind that the players themselves then burned the place to the ground by firing a cannon during a show in 1613, they rebuilt it. Again with the mohawk, you can't stop theatre even with your own stupidity. Of course it was then closed by uptight Puritans in 1642 for "lascivious mirth and levity". Yep, that's us. How dare we have a good time. Partying like the punks we are, and holding a mirror up to society to force them to see how they are is usually misinterpreted and twisted into "lascivious mirth and levity." We enjoy mocking society, and watching society not comprehend that they are being mocked. Until they do, and then they shut us down.
The Globe still stands, by the way, even if it is in a different location.
The Russian theatres were closed by Bubonic plague in 1771, and also stood witness to the riots that ensued. Yet Chekov's Moscow Arts Theatre -founded a hundred years later, granted- is still standing. I may not be able to line up Russian theatre exactly with plagues and mohawks at this red hot moment, but I am also not wrong.
I'm just sayin', you cannot stop theatre.
I just jumped on google to check on my dates, and found this on SparkNotes: Aside from the city authorities, the chief enemies of the theaters were Puritan reformers, who believed that theatrical entertainment in itself represented a blight on the moral life of the city. One preacher, Thomas White, went so far as to make a direct link between plays and the plague: “The cause of plague is sinne . . . and the cause of sinne are playes: therefore the cause of plagues are playes.”
That was written regarding the shuttering of the Globe.See how we are?
Remember the black out last year in NYC? The cast of Hadestown took the show to the street. Mohawk. Two middle fingers. "The Show Must Go On", etc etc.
As I try to get my thoughts out here, with a fat fluffy cat pounding her head on my hand, I realize I've made my point. Theatre is not buildings. Theatre is people. Which I'm pretty sure is grammatically incorrect, or at least sounds it. As I chanted for four years as I was being bullied out of my own theatre: You can shove me out of my theatre, but you'll never take theatre out of me. I'm a theatre kid. Always have been.
Theatre people are the ones who endure. We adjust, change schedules, switch venues, move outdoors, hop districts, or, in the case of a plague, we sit and write and prepare for the buildings to reopen. Yes, This Sucks. This is costing millions in revenue, and lost wages,and putting insurance and car payments and mortgage payments at risk. It. Sucks. Ass.
But it will end. And we'll be ready.
'Cause the building may be closed, but the ghost light is still burning.
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