Comments on: Brooklyn at Eye Level http://urbanomnibus.net/2009/02/brooklyn-at-eye-level/ Exploring the culture of citymaking Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:28:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Pam Newton http://urbanomnibus.net/2009/02/brooklyn-at-eye-level/comment-page-1/#comment-106 Pam Newton Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:03:24 +0000 http://urbanomnibus.net/?p=2476#comment-106 I had never heard of the Civilians, but this project reminds me of some other recent theatre, which combines performance with a kind of anthropological field research and journalistic reporting. Anna Deveare Smith was really the first to popularize this approach. She interviews people connected to major political events - the Crown Heights incident or the LA riots - and then performs their words verbatim in a series of monologues. Similarly, Danny Hoch has been doing politically charged one-man shows for years, where he enacts a series of characters based on real people, often in connection with controversial issues. His most recent show at the Public, Taking Over, has a lot in common with this Civilians project: it is about the tensions surrounding the gentrification of Williamsburg. But a couple things strike me as unique about this Civilians show: one is the incorporation of dance, movement, and music into the monologues, which adds an invigorating element. Another is the presence of a community of performers on stage. A nice change from the one-person shows which abound lately. It is refreshing to see a group of performers working together to create dialogue and address issues, and without imposing a specific political agenda. I'm excited to know they're out there. Thanks for the video. I had never heard of the Civilians, but this project reminds me of some other recent theatre, which combines performance with a kind of anthropological field research and journalistic reporting. Anna Deveare Smith was really the first to popularize this approach. She interviews people connected to major political events – the Crown Heights incident or the LA riots – and then performs their words verbatim in a series of monologues. Similarly, Danny Hoch has been doing politically charged one-man shows for years, where he enacts a series of characters based on real people, often in connection with controversial issues. His most recent show at the Public, Taking Over, has a lot in common with this Civilians project: it is about the tensions surrounding the gentrification of Williamsburg. But a couple things strike me as unique about this Civilians show: one is the incorporation of dance, movement, and music into the monologues, which adds an invigorating element. Another is the presence of a community of performers on stage. A nice change from the one-person shows which abound lately. It is refreshing to see a group of performers working together to create dialogue and address issues, and without imposing a specific political agenda. I’m excited to know they’re out there. Thanks for the video.

]]> By: Caron Atlas http://urbanomnibus.net/2009/02/brooklyn-at-eye-level/comment-page-1/#comment-105 Caron Atlas Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:32:35 +0000 http://urbanomnibus.net/?p=2476#comment-105 Thank you, Urban Omnibus, for highlighting the role that theater can play as a catalyst for community dialogue and action. As program director for the <a href="http://www.prattcenter.net" rel="nofollow">Pratt Center</a> for Community Development's Initiative on Arts & Community Change, I appreciate that your web site is including the arts as an integral part of your conversation. Brooklyn At Eye Level is a good example of how theater can bring people together in a creative process of civic engagement. While at first I questioned whether a play could have no point of view, it reminded me that one of the powers of art is that it can hold multiple perspectives without neutralizing them. The Civilians took great care to learn about the community, talk with a wide range of people, and listen carefully to concerns about their project. I experienced this first hand in the lively conversation we had with them at the Pratt Center. In the end, seeing the show in Brooklyn surrounded by the people living its story, inspired by the community artists who joined the Civilians on stage, and participating in the dialogue afterwards with neighborhood activists, all made for a strong experience of community building. Brooklyn at Eye Level did in fact have a point view: to make visible and celebrate those who care enough about their communities to become actively engaged in them. The project also created -- starting with the interviews, continuing into the performance and the post show conversations, and now onto this website -- an inclusive forum to talk about critical issues of development, public policy, and transparency. I agree with Norman Oder that the play wasn’t definitive, and that dialogue can only go so far. But while it may not have offered an in depth analysis of the root causes and strategies related to these issues, it hopefully moved people to get engaged and learn more. The thorough research and thoughtful analysis that Norman Oder includes in his blog would be a good place for them to start. Thank you, Urban Omnibus, for highlighting the role that theater can play as a catalyst for community dialogue and action. As program director for the Pratt Center for Community Development’s Initiative on Arts & Community Change, I appreciate that your web site is including the arts as an integral part of your conversation.

Brooklyn At Eye Level is a good example of how theater can bring people together in a creative process of civic engagement. While at first I questioned whether a play could have no point of view, it reminded me that one of the powers of art is that it can hold multiple perspectives without neutralizing them. The Civilians took great care to learn about the community, talk with a wide range of people, and listen carefully to concerns about their project. I experienced this first hand in the lively conversation we had with them at the Pratt Center.

In the end, seeing the show in Brooklyn surrounded by the people living its story, inspired by the community artists who joined the Civilians on stage, and participating in the dialogue afterwards with neighborhood activists, all made for a strong experience of community building. Brooklyn at Eye Level did in fact have a point view: to make visible and celebrate those who care enough about their communities to become actively engaged in them.

The project also created — starting with the interviews, continuing into the performance and the post show conversations, and now onto this website — an inclusive forum to talk about critical issues of development, public policy, and transparency. I agree with Norman Oder that the play wasn’t definitive, and that dialogue can only go so far. But while it may not have offered an in depth analysis of the root causes and strategies related to these issues, it hopefully moved people to get engaged and learn more. The thorough research and thoughtful analysis that Norman Oder includes in his blog would be a good place for them to start.

]]> By: Norman Oder http://urbanomnibus.net/2009/02/brooklyn-at-eye-level/comment-page-1/#comment-104 Norman Oder Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:07:42 +0000 http://urbanomnibus.net/?p=2476#comment-104 I enjoyed watching Brooklyn at Eye Level, and I enjoyed the video above. But the Civilians' admirable effort--the first performance was launched in a matter of weeks--is, by their own explanation, hardly definitive. My commentary on the show: http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2008/12/multiple-visions-and-gaps-of-brooklyn.html And, at some point, it's not a question of dialogue, it's a question of facts. For example: http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2006/03/acorns-lewis-gets-fiery-as-affordable.html http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2009/01/flashback-four-years-ago-acorns-lewis.html http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2007/02/spin-city-2-lewis-says-ay-would-be.html I enjoyed watching Brooklyn at Eye Level, and I enjoyed the video above. But the Civilians’ admirable effort–the first performance was launched in a matter of weeks–is, by their own explanation, hardly definitive.

My commentary on the show:
http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2008/12/multiple-visions-and-gaps-of-brooklyn.html

And, at some point, it’s not a question of dialogue, it’s a question of facts. For example:

http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2006/03/acorns-lewis-gets-fiery-as-affordable.html
http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2009/01/flashback-four-years-ago-acorns-lewis.html
http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2007/02/spin-city-2-lewis-says-ay-would-be.html

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