Theatre and Interpersonal Communication

One of the things I believe links my work in communication studies with other work I do is the theatre. Theatre is all about relationships - about the spatial dimensions of relationships, about the way tone of voice alters how others feel about you, about the way your family background makes itself known later in your life.

Right now I'm at work directing Easter for the Messiah festival. I'm a little nervous because we open in a month, and Spring Break comes in between now and then - so we have barely three weeks to get ready.

I think that we may be under rehearsed, but that we'll get it through to the audience if we remain true to the relationships that Strindberg has put on the page. They're clear, it seems to me. They're also very interesting.

In the end, the Deus ex machina comes and saves the family. Sure, that's a given. But, the play's internal logic allows us a glimpse into a world we seldom see - where flowers speak the language of scents and telephone wires are angry because of the angry language of the telephone users - where all the world is animated by a great spirit.

If we can be true to the relationships, we can make this live for an audience.