Choose your own adventure

I read Teya’s Theatre of Witness and I really found her ability to connect to something deep within all of us amazing. We all grow, all have the need for our mothers to feed us, all experience loss. Her sense for humanity seems to be something she’s always had, in part help with Billy’s teachings of Buddha, Bergman and LSD. She tends to stray from the mainstream, even leaving behind her mother’s influence for the “beauty and transcendence” of female dancers. I think Years is an especially important piece as we do have this divide between generations. Some people don’t feel like older people should be president and some presidential candidates really reflect little understanding for younger people. I was particularly drawn to Helen’s song, “He was part of me. I was part of him. And I liked myself as I was then. Now I hold part of him deep within me. And I’m growing in a brand new way.” We all have people in our lives who make up a part of us and it was beautiful to see this grief shared and bonded. Teya says she doesn’t know what made Years so successful and that maybe it was that she put such fabulously interesting people on stage. I think part of what makes them interesting is that we don’t normally hear their stories. They are a marginalized voice and it is rare we get to see an older person express themselves artistically. Michael struck a chord with me when he said, “Wait until the whole project is over and if you’re happy with my performance, then I’ll take it.” and again when he cried, “I want to be the giver, not the taker.”