tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568548679414256493.post175315612682847970..comments2023-09-03T06:12:43.896-04:00Comments on Love's Labors Lost: reflections on soft powerRVCBardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06481089855894764409noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568548679414256493.post-16170512922442470072011-10-24T17:22:08.879-04:002011-10-24T17:22:08.879-04:00The Tao Te Ching is all about soft power. Be water...The Tao Te Ching is all about soft power. Be water. It is the basis of Tai Chi. By bending and flowing, you get people moving in your direction. Give your audience what they want, and they will accept what you have to give. Thus, all great art works on the borderlands of the known and the unknown, blazing a trail into the unknown, but doing so without getting anyone lost in the process.Troy Camplinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16515578686042143845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568548679414256493.post-71882119664578837192011-09-12T23:24:43.880-04:002011-09-12T23:24:43.880-04:00Do you think this is rare in theater? Are the othe...<i>Do you think this is rare in theater? Are the other playwrights who are writing about serious issues missing the mark by being too overtly political and coercive and trying to exercise hard power?</i><br /><br />I can't speak for the rarity of soft power in theatre, since I don't make a habit of seeing pedantic "Issue Plays."<br /><br />However, I do lean towards believing that theatre that tries to use hard power to convince people of the rightness of a certain political standpoint are pretty much going about it all wrong, especially since there are other media that are much better at that sort of thing (like advertising, research studies, etc.).RVCBardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06481089855894764409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568548679414256493.post-15321904075246205472011-09-12T21:45:00.897-04:002011-09-12T21:45:00.897-04:00This is such a good post.
I think the Artistic Di...This is such a good post.<br /><br />I think the Artistic Director of a theater I volunteer for may be looking for this soft power in the work he does. He doesn't like to do "political" plays or "issue" plays because they are so often ham-fisted. He always wants to focus on the personal stories that move people. And I think the smart people who write "issue" plays understand this, too, and work hard to keep it personal for this very reason.<br /><br />Do you think this is rare in theater? Are the other playwrights who are writing about serious issues missing the mark by being too overtly political and coercive and trying to exercise hard power?Aaron Andersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05387322295466947969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568548679414256493.post-22489939551847803582011-09-07T17:38:54.923-04:002011-09-07T17:38:54.923-04:00Great seeing the conversation evolve!Great seeing the conversation evolve!David Zoltanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13722433558601623085noreply@blogger.com