[Nfb-editors] Food for Thought: Presenting Our Message as theatre

[Mike Freeman]

Naw; it was the lawyers.

Mike Freeman
sent from my iPhone


On May 5, 2011, at 21:45, Bridgit Pollpeter <bpollpeter at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Tina,
> 
> I was the one who mentioned the "dumbing" down of society.  I'm only 30
> so it is not inexperience of the culture speaking.
> 
> I have been involved in the performing arts ever since I can remember.
> I danced for years, and I believe my first play, Cinderella, was at age
> 9.  I performed in plays in my high school as well as in the community.
> I was a vocal performance major when I went to university in 2000.
> 
> I think your idea is great, and someone should develop it.
> 
> My comments were never meant to act as a call to give up.  My point was
> that the Federation, along with most organizations, have to learn and
> develop new ways of drawing people into the NFB.  If anything, I was
> challenging our current leadership to create innovative initiatives and
> programs that draw the interest of this new generation while maintaining
> the foundation of the organization.
> 
> I think your idea has merit.  I've been talking about a Renaissance of
> sorts for years.  When you look at any major activism-- voting rights,
> Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights, etc.-- it was the art community that
> took root and drew people in and changed mindsets.  Art forms have
> always had the power to persuade, I think society has forgotten this.
> 
> Bridgit
> 
> Message: 5
> Date: Wed, 4 May 2011 21:51:52 -0700
> From: "Tina Hansen" <th404 at comcast.net>
> To: <newmanrl at cox.net>,    "Correspondence Committee Mailing List"
>    <nfb-editors at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-editors] Food for Thought: Presenting Our Message
>    asTheater
> Message-ID: <4F5F2E273697478E96755348DC46FF4F at tinad85eb5cc31>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
>    reply-type=original
> 
> Personally, I'm still learning the ropes, but I know that maybe it's
> time to 
> actually have our plays recorded professionally, and maybe it's time to
> have 
> our members write original skits that present our message. I'm thinking
> that 
> we could offer these as audio drama or as video, but write it in such a
> way 
> that everything is conveyed in the main dialogue so that the sound track
> 
> could stand alone. And, some of our own members could act in these skits
> 
> alongside professional actors or community theater groups.
> 
> I know that some people on this list are troubled because they feel that
> our 
> young people are apethetic or that they don't care. Yet, some young
> people 
> are actually very creative, caring, compassionate and hard working. I 
> believe that we need to find those young people who do care about these 
> issues and allow them to use their abilities. They understand the social
> 
> networking side of things, and they understand their culture.
> 
> Some people feel that because everything is being "dumbed down" that we 
> should cave in. It shows me that some people have limited experience.
> 
> Part of the problem is that our culture is on overload, and that people
> are 
> retreating as a protective measure. We need to show people why our
> message 
> is still important, both to those in the organization and those who have
> not 
> yet joined.
> 
> There are plenty of members who could write this stuff, and I'm sure
> that 
> with some help from those creative young people, we could come up with 
> something good. Audio theater productions need not be overly elaborate,
> but 
> they do need to be credible and strike a balance. They need to entertain
> 
> while they inform. Also, it's possible to be engaging while keeping it 
> short; we'll just need to work on how to do it.
> 
> And how about this? If we find someone who has a lot of questions, we
> might 
> even be able to ask them to help out in a segment, and we use that as a 
> teachable moment. If anyone remembers the Braille is Beautiful program
> we 
> did some years ago, that program offered a nice mix of real NFB members
> and 
> friends who showed the audience about the beauty of Braille. Maybe we
> could 
> do something like that.
> 
> So rather than complaining, let's all let our imaginations fly as we
> find 
> ways to be creative and have fun while being serious. Thanks. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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