Revolutions 2019. Why does it matter?

Like most working people, I think often about my job and its function. I am an artist.  What do we artists do? What is our responsibility? Are we doing enough with our work? How and what are we contributing to the world? I tap back into those questions when I’m curating the festival. I go back to the Revolutions mission: to bring work from around the world to New Mexico, to provide and create opportunities to experience other cultures and countries through theatre, to create a platform for all voices so that we may listen and learn from each other.

Artists reflect the human condition. Artists open space and teach empathy. Artists are truth tellers. We all need to be paying attention to artists. We should listen not only to what artists are saying but how, where, and why they are saying it. We learn about each other through these performances, but then what do we do with that knowledge? We can expand our understanding of the world, make choices, create change. When an artist who feels marginalized says in a play, “THIS is how it feels when you dismiss me”, we should turn to the task of looking at the ways we might be dismissive of others.  And then modify our actions to value other perspectives, to create equity. When someone from another country shares the story of their culture on stage, we should work to release the stereotypes and question judgments we have accumulated from biased school lessons or skewed and limited news reports.

New Mexico is a beautiful state with a rich culture with a vibrant artistic scene from a diverse community. New Mexico is also the second poorest state in the nation which creates ongoing challenges for artist support and outreach. The exposure to global work is critical in teaching empathy and examining history. The Revolutions Festival creates encounters with people who may not have the chance to connect. Tricklock and Revolutions are deeply committed to creating more powerful exchanges as we find our common space in a world that often feels divisive and violent. Tricklock is also committed to creating these encounters in New Mexico. As an Albuquerque based theatre company, our access to high donors and multiple foundations is extremely limited, but we are committed to the principle that dynamic theatre happens across the United States, not only in large cities. We are also committed to not allowing poverty and crime to become Albuquerque’s narrative. Many residents of New Mexico do not have access to global artistic exchange outside of Revolutions. It is a critical and vital program in the state of New Mexico.

The beautiful thing about live performance is that it can only happen when artists and audience are to share space together. Live performance wakes us up and gets us into a room together. For a time, artist and audience become one entity pursuing human understanding. When we see courageous work on stage, we must also value the bravery in the audience.  Agreeing to open yourself to the visceral impact of stories and new ideas is vulnerable work. But if we are willing to stay, to listen and learn, then we can leave a performance ready with new tools to affect positive change in our community and around the world. Through these theatrical interactions, we can decide to all work together on how our next stories will be told.