For some people, time is money. For others, timing is everything. Whether one is searching for a window of opportunity, hoping to ride a groundswell of support, or participating in an established grassroots movement, the importance of seizing the moment and making the most of its potential can never be underestimated.
Some cry out "Carpe Diem" while others claim to see an omen of mystical convergence which can offer humanity some sorely-needed consciousness raising. In some cases (as in this song by Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim from 1965's Do I Hear A Waltz?), the opportunity at hand is a romantic one.
In his bestselling book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference (2000), author Malcolm Gladwell posited that "Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread like viruses do. The tipping point is the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point." Although Sergio Franchi's lush rendition of "Take The Moment" doesn't make it seem like there's any kind of fire that needs to be extinguished, these two songs from Jerry Herman's 1969 musical, Dear World, send a loud and clear message that time is of the essence.
Two recent productions by Berkeley-based theatre companies tried to create a sense of urgency for their audiences around a specific moment in time. One was based on the need to develop a solution to an ongoing racial crisis in America; the other addressed an ecological crisis taking place in the world's oceans. If you think such topics are nothing more than liberal fluff, I would urge you sit down and read John H. Richardson's blood-curdling article in Esquire Magazine entitled When The End of Civilization Is Your Day Job.
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Directed by Leah C. Gardiner (with Marcus Shelby playing music he composed for double bass), the Berkeley Repertory Theatre presented the Bay area premiere of Anna Deavere Smith's latest play, Notes From The Field: Doing Time In Education - The California Chapter. With young black men being killed on a routine basis by white policemen, Smith's new theatre piece tries to examine the failed social structure which has led to many of these men being sent through a pipeline that leads straight from school to prison.
A native of Baltimore (a city which had its fair share of racial tension in 2015), Smith describes her big break in the following clip.
In addition to her work in film and television, Smith has gained fame for the detailed portrayals that she creates of ordinary Americans (based on intense research and long hours of interviewing). In works such as Fires in the Mirror (1992), Twilight, Los Angeles, 1992 (1994), House Arrest (2000), Let Me Down Easy (2008), The Arizona Project (2008), On Grace (2014), Reclaiming Grace in the Face of Adversity (2015), and Never Givin' Up (2015), she creates vignette-driven docudramas which reflect life in these United States. In the following clip, she explains the interviewing technique which allowed her to get to the heart of some of the people she has interviewed.
As Smith began her research for Notes From The Field: Doing Time In Education - The California Chapter, an unmistakable pattern quickly came to light. As she explains:
![2015-07-31-1438382436-9918457-deavere1.jpg]()
Anna Deavere Smith portrays India Sledge (a stude
Some cry out "Carpe Diem" while others claim to see an omen of mystical convergence which can offer humanity some sorely-needed consciousness raising. In some cases (as in this song by Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim from 1965's Do I Hear A Waltz?), the opportunity at hand is a romantic one.
In his bestselling book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference (2000), author Malcolm Gladwell posited that "Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread like viruses do. The tipping point is the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point." Although Sergio Franchi's lush rendition of "Take The Moment" doesn't make it seem like there's any kind of fire that needs to be extinguished, these two songs from Jerry Herman's 1969 musical, Dear World, send a loud and clear message that time is of the essence.
Two recent productions by Berkeley-based theatre companies tried to create a sense of urgency for their audiences around a specific moment in time. One was based on the need to develop a solution to an ongoing racial crisis in America; the other addressed an ecological crisis taking place in the world's oceans. If you think such topics are nothing more than liberal fluff, I would urge you sit down and read John H. Richardson's blood-curdling article in Esquire Magazine entitled When The End of Civilization Is Your Day Job.
Directed by Leah C. Gardiner (with Marcus Shelby playing music he composed for double bass), the Berkeley Repertory Theatre presented the Bay area premiere of Anna Deavere Smith's latest play, Notes From The Field: Doing Time In Education - The California Chapter. With young black men being killed on a routine basis by white policemen, Smith's new theatre piece tries to examine the failed social structure which has led to many of these men being sent through a pipeline that leads straight from school to prison.
A native of Baltimore (a city which had its fair share of racial tension in 2015), Smith describes her big break in the following clip.
In addition to her work in film and television, Smith has gained fame for the detailed portrayals that she creates of ordinary Americans (based on intense research and long hours of interviewing). In works such as Fires in the Mirror (1992), Twilight, Los Angeles, 1992 (1994), House Arrest (2000), Let Me Down Easy (2008), The Arizona Project (2008), On Grace (2014), Reclaiming Grace in the Face of Adversity (2015), and Never Givin' Up (2015), she creates vignette-driven docudramas which reflect life in these United States. In the following clip, she explains the interviewing technique which allowed her to get to the heart of some of the people she has interviewed.
As Smith began her research for Notes From The Field: Doing Time In Education - The California Chapter, an unmistakable pattern quickly came to light. As she explains:
It did not take long to have my lens open onto a much bigger picture of poverty and its consequences in the emotional, physical, and intellectual development of youths, both inside and outside of school. Privileged kids get [charged with] mischief. Poor kids get pathologized [and sent to jail].
Anna Deavere Smith portrays India Sledge (a stude