We caught up with the brilliant and insightful John Taylor a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
John , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
In the spring of 2015, I took to heart the words of Brazilian theatre artist Augusto Boal who said, “Education is transitive or it isn’t education” and I began looking for a play to direct for the fall semester. When I came across <i>Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays</i>, the Supreme Court was several months away from its ruling on marriage equality. I knew I wanted to produce it because it would make for a timely and relevant work of theatre. And it would also give my college students the chance to practice the art of theatre and social change. In doing so, it would bring to our small university in rural Colorado a very significant issue that would allow us to explore our campus commitment to diversity and inclusion. Depending on how the court ruled, our production would either be a “call to arms” for more activism or a celebration of justice and equality. With the Court’s historic decision, the purpose of our production became clear: we were celebrating!
<i>Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays</i> was the genesis of <i>Standing Strong: The ASU Equality Project</i> which celebrated efforts to create a more inclusive society by dismantling barriers to equality. Against the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s ruling in support of marriage equality, this project explored diverse contemporary struggles for social justice with a specific focus on issues relevant to the LGBTQ community and its allies. Over the course of ten days, <i>Standing Strong </i>examined where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going as we work to create a more perfect and just union.
After spending the spring and summer building partnerships with various campus constituencies including with our university’s new president, I created a campus-wide project in which a theatre production was at the center of the project around which there were multiple auxiliary events designed to further explore the issues raised by the play. On opening night, the production played to a sold-out audience of campus and community members, followed by a same-sex wedding on stage, and then a party, including a reception paid for by our university president, that went to 3 a.m. in our theatre building. Over the next ten days, there were also a series of events designed to engage our campus and local communities.
Transformation is at the heart of the theatre experience. It happens every time an actor puts on makeup and becomes a character. This opportunity for change is not limited to performers alone. It is offered to us all. As audience members, we each come into a production with our own understanding of the world. But when the lights go down, we are presented with an occasion to ask “do I still understand my world in the same way?” Occasionally, we experience a moment – a moment when what we feel or believe to be true is interrupted by what we have witnessed on stage. Theatre can and should be full of moments of interruption,
As a professor of Theatre, one my goals is to help my students expand their view of what it is they study. As theatre majors, they are asked routinely what they will do with their degree. Worried parents question how they will support themselves. Others doubt whether it is a legitimate area of study – after all, it is just theatre and playmaking. Through their education at Adams State University, I want my students to be able to answer those concerns with the following response: “With my theatre degree, I’m going to change my part of the world.”
This project is meaningful to me because it demonstrates the power of the arts to bring people together to explore a topic on which there may be a variety of perspectives. In the process, there is the possibility for shifts in perspectives that may lead to meaningful change.
John , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
This January, I celebrate my 60th birthday. Since I was five years old, I have known there were two things I wanted to do with my life: create theatre and teach. I have been fortunate that I have spent the past 55 years doing theatre and the last 36 years teaching. In my journey as a theatre artist and educator, one of the most significant events occurred unexpectedly when I was a sophomore in high school.
Getting home late one Friday night from rehearsal for a school production, I happened upon a showing of <i>Zoot Suit</i> by Luis Valdez on Cinemax. To watch a film version of a stage play was the not the usual reason a 16-year-old boy typically tuned into Cinemax which was affectionately known to my friends and I as “Skinomax.” But I recognized the actress Tyne Daly so I watched. And what I saw, even though in the medium of film, changed forever my understanding of what theatre could be and do. From its stylized staging to its potent mix of pathos and politics, I witnessed the power of theatre to entertain and to be a transforming force.
Art matters and theatre can have a real and lasting impact. In my work, one of my goals is to explore the ways in which theatre can be a catalyst for community engagement. The classroom and the stage should be at the forefront of efforts to examine our personal beliefs and the major societal issues of the day. Both can be places where injustice, ignorance, and the prejudices of the past can be exposed and new understandings of the human experience explored. Most importantly, each can be a site where a multiplicity of voices can be heard in discourse.
Since joining the Adams State faculty in 1999, the focus of my creative work has been to create theatre projects that explore issues of social justice and engage our community. Working with my students, we’ve created a variety of issue-oriented theatre events including <b><i>enGENDERing Change: The ASU Gender Theatre Project</i> </b>2019 (<i>A Doll’s House, Part 2</i>), <i><b>Of Words and Walls: The Anne Frank Theatre Project</b></i> 2017 (<i>The Diary of Anne Frank</i>), <i><b>The ASU Ghost Light Project</b></i> 2017 – 2022 (inclusion and diversity), <b><i>Standing Strong: The ASU Equality Project </i></b>2015 (<i>Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays</i>), <b><i>The R&J Project</i></b> 2011 (<i>Romeo and Juliet</i>) , <b><i>The ASC Fahrenheit 451 Project</i></b> 2007-2008 (<i>Fahrenheit 451</i>), the <b><i>365 Days/365 Plays</i></b> project 2007 (new works by Suzan-Lori Parks), the <i><b>ASC Dead Man Walking Theatre Project</b></i> 2006 (<i>Dead Man Walking</i>), and <i>The Laramie Project</i> 2002.
It has been a privilege to be able to spend my professional career combining my passions – teaching, theatre, and social justice – and doing so in a rural community which does not usually have access to diverse programming. In the process, I hope I have been able to impact my part of the world for the better.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
During my career, I’ve had well-meaning individuals (sometimes friends) tell me that I shouldn’t be so open or free with sharing my opinions or taking on social or political issues in my theatre work. It is a fine line between educating and advocating. As an educator, it is not my objective to force an agenda on my students or community. However, as someone who teaches the subject of theatre and social change, it is very appropriate for me to practice and model what I teach. Non-creatives working in more traditional careers may not understand why I do what I do and they may think it is more prudent to avoid controversy, but that is not the work I do. It is not the work that an artist does.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
As an educator, it is distressing to see the devaluing of the arts in education. Yes, STEM is important, but so are the arts. Both are needed for a vibrant and thriving society. We need to reestablish a balance in K-12 and Higher Ed in which the arts and humanities are encouraged as areas of study along with the sciences, engineering, mathematics, etc. Society needs both scientists and artists because both help make possible the future we all want.
Contact Info:
- Website: theatre,adams.edu
- Instagram: jhtaylorasu
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/john.taylor.9655806
- Youtube: adamsstateuniversitytheatr9244