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[0:00] Ruthie Fierberg: I'm Ruthie Fierberg, and this is Why We Theater.

[0:05] Ruthie Fierberg: The podcast that digs into the onstage works we love to make the offstage change we need.

[0:12] Ruthie Fierberg: After all, that is why we theater.

[0:16] Ruthie Fierberg: Hello, my beautiful listeners. I hope everyone is hanging in. There's a lot going on in our world.

[0:24] Ruthie Fierberg: And before we get into today's mini-episode, I want to address the war in Ukraine.

[0:30] Ruthie Fierberg: As I wrote, actually in my last newsletter, I'm gonna quote myself. What's happening in Ukraine is scary and tragic.

[0:39] Ruthie Fierberg: Missiles are dropping, civilians and soldiers are dying, tens of thousands of people are fleeing their homes in the wake of this incursion and now weeks of war.

[0:52] Ruthie Fierberg: It's heartbreaking and it's terrifying, and it's also far away. It's a lot easier to turn our heads and quite frankly, with all we've been dealt in recent history.

[1:03] Ruthie Fierberg: I don't blame anyone for wanting to or needing to in moments. In fact, I just took a few days completely unplugged to give my brain a break and my emotions a break.

[1:14] Ruthie Fierberg: But at the same time, I find myself conflicted, not just about media consumption, but because so much of the world is war-torn.

[1:24] Ruthie Fierberg: There have been missiles dropping and guns backfiring and refugees evacuating in some country every day for as long as I can remember being, quote, old enough to hear the stories.

[1:35] Ruthie Fierberg: Rwanda, Darfur, Haiti, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Colombia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Israel.

[1:45] Ruthie Fierberg: The list goes on. Certainly, the situation is different. Russia is one sovereign nation waging war in an attempt to overtake and absorb another sovereign nation, dealing new blows to international order and democracy.

[2:01] Ruthie Fierberg: It's also a land conflict. And still, the human casualties are deeply familiar.

[2:08] Ruthie Fierberg: So let us all do what we can to stay informed and stop the violence and suffering in Ukraine and throughout the world.

[2:17] Ruthie Fierberg: There are links in the show notes, and if you'd like to subscribe to my monthly newsletter, you can do so on my personal website, RuthieFierberg.com. I'll include a link to the sign-up in the show notes as well.

[2:28] Ruthie Fierberg: Last week, we spoke to an international smorgasbord of guests about DAVID Byrne's AMERICAN Utopia.

[2:36] Ruthie Fierberg: Quick reminder that if you are in New York, you only have until April 3rd to see the show on Broadway.

[2:43] Ruthie Fierberg: If you're not in New York or not planning to be in New York before that date, you can watch the capture directed by Spike Lee on HBO Max.

[2:51] Ruthie Fierberg: So AMERICAN Utopia cast member Tendayi Kuumba, an Atlanta, Georgia native, joined me along with experts Dr. Vinoo Alluri, all the way from Hyderabad, India, and Dr. Alejandro Lleras, who is originally from Colombia and now works at the University of Illinois.

[3:09] Ruthie Fierberg: And the three of us had a fantastic conversation that I really hope you will listen to.

[3:14] Ruthie Fierberg: The thrust of why we theater is to learn about issues portrayed on stage and the tangible actions we can take to create offstage change.

[3:24] Ruthie Fierberg: This entire podcast comes out of my own emotional response to works of theater I've seen. My own distress learning about the plights of others, and then my own frustration in not knowing what to do to change that.

[3:38] Ruthie Fierberg: So week after week we talk about issues and next steps, and we will keep doing that. But AMERICAN Utopia presented the opportunity to step back and take in a broader perspective.

[3:49] Ruthie Fierberg: Not just what are the next steps, but how do we find the next steps? Are there, quote, next steps we, really I, because I'm the one sitting here, am missing because I think about things in a familiar way. And maybe you do too.

[4:07] Ruthie Fierberg: So I hope you'll take a listen to that episode. It's a fascinating exploration of thought processes, problem solving, and creative thinking, as well as how music and movement impact those things.

[4:19] Ruthie Fierberg: In contemplating alternate modes of thinking, and I know we're getting very meta, but I remembered an animated movie I saw during my time on the editorial staff of Parents Magazine.

[4:30] Ruthie Fierberg: In 2015, I saw a screening of The Prophet, a film produced by Salma Hayek. The film is an interpretation of poet Kahlil Gibran's 1923 book of the same name.

[4:43] Ruthie Fierberg: It centers in part on an artist named Mustafa, who is under threat by authorities for his art. But it's difficult to describe the quote plot of the movie because it doesn't have a conventional beginning, middle, and end.

[4:58] Ruthie Fierberg: While there is a storyline about Mustafa, there are interstitial segments of animated poems. Each segment is based on an essay from Gibran's book and was created by a different director for the movie. I described parts of the film as more mature baby Mozart, because these segments have no plot.

[5:19] Ruthie Fierberg: They're visually stunning, musically engaging, and feature the lyrical poetry of the great Gibran. On the surface, this might seem like a quote, bad movie. How do you follow something with no plot? A movie that doesn't have a structure of exposition, events, climax resolution.

[5:37] Ruthie Fierberg: You follow it the same way you follow AMERICAN Utopia. You allow it to wash over you. You allow the music to move you, spiritually or literally. You allow the poetry to speak to you. You allow your eyes to follow the motion and the art.

[5:56] Ruthie Fierberg: In fact, the reason Salma Hayek produced this film is because she believed that we were only feeding our children one type of story and one type of story structure.

[6:06] Ruthie Fierberg: As she told me at the time in our post-screening talk, quote, it's working children's brains in a new way because they cannot expect what is coming next.

[6:16] Ruthie Fierberg: Kids are programmed to see the same kind of materials where they already know how they're going to feel. There's a bad guy, there's a good guy, I like it, I don't like it. But life is not so simple.

[6:27] Ruthie Fierberg: This movie makes them feel things they're not used to. We need a new generation that goes into the unknown and finds solutions that we have not seen or heard. But the first thing is to connect with themselves. End quote.

[6:50] Ruthie Fierberg: Find out what speaks to you in it. Do you find yourself resisting the film? Do you need plot? Do you wonder what the point of all of this is? Are you able to let yourself give in to the meandering structure? How does the music make you feel? What stanzas of poetry stick out to you and why?

[7:10] Ruthie Fierberg: And of course, I'll put a link in the show notes of how to watch The Prophet. The human brain is not a muscle, but it does need exercise, so to speak.

[7:19] Ruthie Fierberg: To change the way we solve problems, we must change the way we approach problems. Change the very way we think.

[7:26] Ruthie Fierberg: As Vinoo said last week, part of the power of AMERICAN Utopia as a show is that it is novel. Just challenging your brain to do something new can be enough to create and build new neural connections and pathways.

[7:41] Ruthie Fierberg: Who knows where they will lead? Why We Theater is a product of the Broadway Podcast Network.

[7:47] Ruthie Fierberg: It's edited and mixed by Derek Gunther. If you like the show, subscribe at bpn.fm, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[7:57] Ruthie Fierberg: And don't forget to leave a review and tell your friends. Our theme music is by Benjamin Velez.

[8:02] Ruthie Fierberg: Special thanks to Dori Berinstein, Alan Seales, Lee Silverman, Patrick Taylor, Wesley Birdsall, Elena Mayer, and Suzanne Chipkin.

[8:12] Ruthie Fierberg: For more resources for change, info about our guests, and more, visit us at WhyWeTheater.com.