Joseph Chaikin – The Open Theatre

Not even forty-eight hours after watching Open Theatre, I can still hear the lingering, “The judgment of your life is your life.” Again and again, I underestimate the power of art, and not just in theatre. Before experiencing the open theatre I was almost baffled at Joseph Chaikin comparing the power of life to a character on stage. But, here I am hypocritical, admitting that this performance is currently anchored with the reflection of my own life. 

It isn’t that Chaikin put brand new ideas in my head because the scenes being portrayed were ongoing events that happened in our society during the time this performance took place, and now. So, it’s not that he placed these ideas in my head, but he expanded my perception like a flower blooming. I was able to experience this moment when one of the male actors articulated, “Make that man poor, so I can be rich. Make that man dead, so I can live.” Is this what it takes for neglected individuals to survive? Is this what no one is saying out loud, yet screaming inside? We live in the shadow of dominance constantly.

Authority doesn’t start or end with a performance, but I understand that experiencing a performance like this can be the start to the end of what we forcefully accept. Ironically though, Chaikin forces these moments of reflection with the presence of the actor; however, does not force us to create these inner truths in our heads. He finishes off this performance with “the judgment of your life is your life” for a reason. He wants us to capture our individualistic revolutionary voice and encounter that voice to the fullest extent. 

Chaikin reaches into my core on how I want to carry out my own life and not serve the “capitalist machine”. Although Chaikin can only lead us to these explorations, I badly want him to tell me how to resolve and stabilize myself. In the same way that Chaikin has only learned how to not teach acting, I have only learned how to live my life by not repeating the same poor decisions. The lives we live and the things we try to achieve will always be slippery, uncertain, and uncomfortable. Yet, there is safety in our own personal discoveries from our transgressions within and the environments we are exposed to. We are always given such security in the realms of art and the open theatre.