Astute Insights
Posted by Joy Meads on 6/11/2009
Last Friday, after seeing the Pixar film Up*, I shared an elevator with a guy whose face looked vaguely familiar. I’m congenitally awful at recognizing faces, so I have nightmares about this type of situation, but—luckily—he couldn’t remember where we’d met either. Trying to narrow it down, he asked “Do you work for a museum?”
Soon enough, we’d figured out that he’s a member of First Look 101 (a group of people who follow the rehearsal and development process of our First Look plays) and that we’d seen each other at the reading of Laura Eason play’s Sex with Strangers the previous Monday. But I absolutely love the fact that in order to remember where he’d met me, he had to rifle through the multiple cultural activities in which he apparently participates.
I thought about this encounter last night, during the discussion that followed our First Look 101 reading of Eric Simonson’s Honest. After the discussion, three different people came up to me and said something along the lines of “that’s a smart group in there.” I couldn’t agree more. I love those conversations. I’m impressed by the 101ers’ astute insights into the plays; but, more importantly, I’m thrilled by the spirit they bring to the discussion itself. They’re intellectually and emotionally intrepid, inclined towards honest investigation of new ideas.
And, although the 101ers are a special group (and you are, 101ers!), this spirit characterizes our audience as a whole. It’s a fact I’m impressed by whenever I moderate post-show discussions or read the stimulating conversations we have here on the blog. You’re a smart, gutsy group. You’re excited by risk, embrace complexity and ambiguity, and turn a skeptical eye towards received wisdom. And—although I know I risk sounding elitist and maybe even a tad unctuous by saying this—I feel pretty lucky to be in a community with you all. Although I dearly hope this is starting to change, our culture has put little value on intellectual curiosity of late. Phalanxes of pundits maintain a depressing dominance over our national conversations, regurgitating pre-chewed opinions in instant response to any development. Uncertainty is interpreted as weakness, creating a hostile climate for the consideration of new ideas and—tragically—the growth catalyzed by honest conversation.
That’s not a risk we run here. You hold us to a higher standard. So, thanks, everyone, for challenging us to bring our A game, to question our assumptions, and to be our smartest selves. Thanks for demanding innovation and risk-taking. And thanks for all the great conversations.
*In case you’re curious, the Pixar movie is unlike our play of the same name, except for their shared balloon imagery and the fact that they’re both (in my admittedly biased opinion) pretty wonderful.