​Vox clamantis in deserto. A voice crying in the wilderness. The motto of my undergraduate college, Dartmouth. Dartmouth was founded as a school in the middle of Nowhere, New Hampshire, a few centuries ago, hence the motto. That phrase, cribbed from the Bible, has many resonances. Sometimes, preaching to the choir is such vox clamantis, when people are hearing but not truly listening. Sometimes there is the vox "clamantising" in the wilderness of the Other, the non-choir. That’s a lonely voice, too, because no one wants to listen. There’s another resonance, which may have to do with self-perception: saying what you have to say, need to say, but not knowing if anyone is listening. 

This last one is what I have been feeling these last months and why I haven’t blogged on a more regular basis. A lyric from the “1776” comes to mind: “Is anybody there? Does anybody care? Does anybody see what I see?” But upon reflection, vox clamantis need never feel in deserto. Enter Hope and its sibling Faith.

We in the Arts and especially in the Theater embark upon this each time we begin a project. We have a reason for production. We hope audiences get it, and we have faith that at least some do.

I used to worry about audiences. Well, I still worry, but not for all of the same reasons my younger self did. Money, yes. Earned income, of course. But understanding? Comprehension? That just has to be engendered with hope and fortified with faith.

Do audiences get my work? I set Into the Woods in a refugee camp where the inhabitants told the fairy tale as a coping mechanism of fun and catharsis. I set a Henry 5 in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, as a personal metaphor by a soldier who loved Shakespeare and dreamed he was in the play. I did a Godspell where the play was born from a contemporary audience's need to explore the Gospel of Matthew during a time of corporate greed and the me first culture. I hope the audiences got some of these ideas.

Certainly some "see what I see," which is gratifying. Any audience has the potential for perception of viewpoints and reaching one individual is as important as reaching thousands. That is important faith.

I have faith that the good in the world will triumph, too. It just might take time. And I look to recent events as a benchmark. Too long the vox clamantis of Black Lives Matter has resounded in unhearing ears of generations in deserto. But now things are happening. Too slow, yes, but happening none-the-less.

So, vox clamantis in deserto? No, what we do, what we say, what we write, is heard. Keep writing, speaking and doing. Keep making Theater! Some will listen and indeed hear. Have Faith.

On this President's Day, I cannot help but reflect on what our current President faces. The enormity of what lies before us may seem daunting, yet we as a nation have been through much over the centuries, and though it may take us time to figure things out, we are getting there. Yet how do we do this? My thoughts run to the image of our nation's Senators, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance before every session and to President Barack Obama, who gave an inspiring speech in his final address to the United Nations on September 20, 2016, in which a hope for our future found its bedrock in that Pledge, and where he set forth a possible blueprint for the future of our world. [If you can spare 45 minutes or so, it's worth the time. Here is the YouTube URL: ​https://youtu.be/ji6pl5Vwrvk]

Here are some excerpts:

​​"Today, a nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself."

"​We must reject any forms of fundamentalism, or racism, or a belief in ethnic superiority... Instead we need to embrace the tolerance that results from respect of all human beings."

​"I have seen that spirit in our young people, who are more educated and more tolerant, and more inclusive and more diverse, and more creative than our generation; who are more empathetic and compassionate towards their fellow human beings than previous generations.  And, yes, some of that comes with the idealism of youth.  But it also comes with young people’s access to information about other peoples and places -- an understanding unique in human history that their future is bound with the fates of other human beings on the other side of the world."

"​And the embrace of these principles as universal doesn't weaken my particular pride, my particular love for America -- it strengthens it.  My belief that these ideals apply everywhere doesn’t lessen my commitment to help those who look like me, or pray as I do, or pledge allegiance to my flag.  But my faith in those principles does force me to expand my moral imagination and to recognize that I can best serve my own people, I can best look after my own daughters, by making sure that my actions seek what is right for all people and all children, and your daughters and your sons."
​
"This is what I believe:  that all of us can be co-workers with God.  And our leadership, and our governments, and this United Nations should reflect this irreducible truth."