BWW Blog: Micah Young - Community

It can be difficult to create long lasting relationships and a sense of community while living in a city. Most performing artists, among other professionals, find themselves thrust in the middle of the urban jungle, and with so many moving parts, feeling centered is a balancing act. I think we all crave a community in one capacity or another.

A friend reminded me that one of the places we still find a strong community is in religious centers. I've often thought that regardless of the particular religion (not to say that I would regard them any less), Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Hindu for example, they are places of community. The same can be said for the theatre. It has a well-established and thriving community of people living and working together. Contrary to many beliefs, theatre and religion go hand in hand. We wouldn't have theatre without religion; and I wonder if we'd have religion without the theatre. Please discuss.

But what really fascinates me is how actors, musicians, technicians and directors all come together rather quickly to put up a show, and then disperse into the aether as quickly as they came together. We live in housing when we are on the road, sharing rooms, meals, and stories. We are a unit, and whether by desire, design, or default, we have to trust one another. But does that community and that trust truly exist beyond the production contract?

Are we able to maintain the 'togetherness' once the curtain is down? I'd like to think so; I wonder how, with heads in our hands holding cell phones and updating Twitter accounts, that we still connect. That we still see to eye-to-eye not only on Facebook, but on face-to-face.