Can Theater Save The World?

As anyone who Buzz Aldridge did not leave on the moon 50 years ago knows, it seems like the Earth is in dire need of saving. Unfortunately, the savior shortlist reads more like a casting call for Mel Brooks’ History of the World Part 3. It appears that with people talking angrily across one another, or more likely, across cyberspace, the chasm dug into humanity only deepens one tweet at a time.

There is, and long has been, a great and mighty unifier. A place where hope goes to diffuse through a pleasant and honest delivery system. This unifier is historically recession and depression proof, and has survived, thrived, through millennia. It is the theater of course, and whether it be an amphitheater in Eleuthereus or in a 1,933 seat venue, the audience is invited to experience what others do, and be introduced to unfamiliar points of view. Whether it be an orphan-b*stard-son-of- a-wh*re, a young man with Asperger’s Syndrome, a Muslim grounded in Gander, Newfoundland on September 11th, an aging, irrelevant cat (or salesman), a previously moral but corrupted Thane in Scotland, a falsely accused man of color in Maycomb, Alabama, or a transvestite just looking for a comfortable pair of to die for boots, after a show, we get it.

Drama kids, generally speaking, exceptionally “get it”. The experience of walking in someone else’s skin when performing a role is transformative. One develops empathy and an awareness that the world isn’t teeming with “others” but rather with “sames, in different packaging / settings.”

This is not the case solely for actors, but for the entire crew, who deploy their skillsets toward emphasizing character drives and universal themes through assorted creative slights of hand.

SHTARK CONTRAST, the latest theater group to debut in the Five Towns on Long Island, is the brainchild of Jennifer Winkler, a long-time high school drama director, along with a group of her former students who belonged to their school’s eponymously named HAFTR Players. Looking at her cast and crew,during the productions and the practive and preparations thereof, Winkler witnessed a fascinating series of phenomena: personal and social transcendence, a breathtaking sense of accomplishment, confidence that spilled into other domains of life, and unparalleled levels of bonding budding from the intense collaboration required to make a show happen, and once each was over, forlorn reflection and a yearning for the next production. Perhaps the most overt sign that something special was happening was invariably being told by former students, some long graduated, how much they missed drama and wished for a space to experience all those wonderful feelings once again, out in the community, now that school days had passed and real life had commenced. It was with this in mind that Winkler mused about the possibility of starting a community theater company in the Five Towns.

“It took years of hearing PLEASE DO THIS from former students, their (secretly) aspirant parents, likeminded acquaintances who still anticipate being discovered in their mature years, but mostly from myself, to finally take the leap.”

What had held her back?

“Life offered no shortage of excuses to NOT DO THIS for decades.”

Winkler, who is also a writer, an English teacher, and mother to four sons, says she hadn’t enough hours in the day to even print out a business plan template, never mind launch the actual business.

What changed?

“It’s like an alarm went off and said, ‘This is your dream. What are you waiting for?’”

She found she was not alone. “My group of HAFTR Players alumni, scattered around the country and in various life stages, were immediately on board.” This includes a doctor in Texas, a genetics counselor in Philadelphia, a real estate agent/magician in New York, a graphic designer and mom who was her very first student director, along with college, post grad students in several states and even countries.

“The requests to be in the productions, or contribute in whatever way possible, be it graphic design, assistant direction, publicity, running lines with actors, is beyond heartening.”

Heartening, yes, but also, what can be more frightening than a dream about to come true? Winkler discloses this fear is real. “But racing from inception to impending production in just weeks keeps you too busy to be terrified.”

After working out the logistics — most of the cast is in town temporarily — almost all have day and some evening jobs — one primary is out of the country for most of the season — SHTARK CONTRAST announced it will be performing its debut production JB Priestley’s An Inspector Calls on August 13th at a local Five Towns venue, a mere six weeks after opening the company and distributing scripts.

“I’m trusting the universe on this one,” Winkler confesses.

It is, in fact, with this belief in universal espousal, that the company moves forward. Despite the logistical, budgetary, and other practical concerns, Winkler and the crew of SHTARK CONTRAST feel compelled by their mission and the value of community theater.

“I started working in the theater in 1992, at Playbill Magazine, bringing the optimistic arrogance of a lifelong (at 22…) superfan who could quote a line from book ranging from Shakespeare to Shaw, Beckett to Brecht, and win Name That ShowTune with a maximum of 5 notes,” Winkler recalls. “But working alongside living encyclopedias like Louis Botto (Dear Playbill), Tom Steinfeld (Senior Sale Director who once owned the magazine) Phil Birsh (Publisher/Owner), and really everybody else there, even the receptionist, let’s say I knew more nothing than Jon Snow.”

Of all she learned during her tenure at Playbill, the fact that blindsided her was learning that during times of economic downturn, theater thrived. Sometimes, such as in the recession, it actually thrived economically. In the years after both World Wars, theater thrived creatively. When the going got tough, people turned to thespians for to help escape and process humanity.

As far as theater goes, even when America suffers cardiac failure, we can’t stop the beat.

The reasons, complex as they are, distill down to a combination of the need to artistically express emotion, to be distracted but at the same time moved, and to be, for two hours, unified with one another in a safe space. That space could be the Gershwin Theatre. Or a basement with folding chairs and a spotlight. Nothing else matters except the people in the room — cast, crew, and audience, mulling on the theme du jour, taking home fresh takes for thought along with their Playbills.

Take An Inspector Calls, SHTARK CONTRAST’s production. Written after WW2, the plot centers on a bourgeois family celebrating the engagement of their daughter, when an Inspector arrives with devastating news that may or may not change their lives. Atmospheric and creepy, this Inspector is the true person of interest, as it can be argued that ultimately, it is the audience, aka humanity, that is inspected. Without spoiling a moment, let’s just say that the play is set in 1912, but written with the cognizance of a post-War playwright, dripping with eerie and timeless dramatic irony.

“The perfect debut play for us,” Winkler says. “It expresses our mission in the most fascinating way.”

Hannah Mari, a college senior at SUNY Purchase, stars as Sheila Birling. She describes, in simple terms, how this play, and this theater company, can help save the world, if only one performance at a time.

"The theater is, and has always been, an environment whose purpose is beyond simple entertainment. It is a place and a culture rooted in connection, communication, understanding, and empathy— all of which are traits that begin in our own local communities. In today's political and/or cultural climate where too many issues quickly escalate to sharp divisiveness, polarization, and alienation, An Inspector Calls reminds us that, for better or for worse, 'we are not alone.'”

Matthew Goldfinger, a former HAFTR Player who is now a pediatric physician is Texas and a SHTARK CONTRAST advisor, explains that, “these sorts of productions allow for the expansion of one’s horizons; for the performer to become another person night after night and to adapt their portrayal as they better get to know the circumstances in which they existence. More important, live theater presents the performer with the opportunity to bring along the audience to connect with them, if not eye to eye, then certainly heart to heart.”

“The bounty the theater provides comes not from a single source but rather is contributed by the playwright, the director the cast and the consumer alike. Theater is not just a story, it is a conversation.”

After this conversation ends, where will SHTARK CONTRAST go from there?

“While it is born of the HAFTR Players [HAFTR is a Jewish Day School], I would love to see it expand beyond Jewish players, to be nondenominational. My dream is to incubate and workshop plays from local writers, artists, and engineers, incorporating design, sound, movement, technology — collaborating towards culminating productions.”

She pauses.

“But for now, I’d like to just get through this production.”

Her cast and crew, who have different affiliations, politics, and points of view, find that the microcosm of Shtark Contrast and community theater is a beacon for the world. Crossing paths and developing relationships with people outside one’s prescribed social circles, getting to know one another, and realizing that what unifies us is ultimately greater than what divides, is in a word, hope.

Perhaps, the aspirations are best expressed by Winker’s former HAFTR Player and a current Columbia Law student, Matthew Goldstein, (also a budding playwright), who wrote the SHTARK CONTRAST mission statement:

Every community has its dreamers--those kids, heads in the clouds, who look around and decide things can be done just a little bit better. All they need are the tools to make it happen.

That's what SHTARK CONTRAST does. We're a theater company dedicated to giving the Five Towns' aspiring writers, actors, directors, dramaturgi, set designers and stage managers a place to invent the world as they see it. Producing both new and well-known works within the context of a Jewish community, SHTARK CONTRAST asks how tradition can be imbued with a new vitality--and how heritage can build a bridge from past to future.

From Aristophanes to Shaw to Sondheim, the theater has welcomed all who believe in the power of drama to examine, interpret, experiment, and transform. SHTARK CONTRAST similarly welcomes everybody--regardless of beliefs, opinions, and background--to have their voices heard. And in a world that prioritizes efficiency over empathy, SHTARK CONTRAST invites us to remember the essential humanity we all share.

Some say theater is an escape. SHTARK CONTRAST makes it home.

An Inspector Calls plays August 13th in Lawrence NY, at 6:30 PM and 9PM

TEXT 516-476-9219 or email shtarkcontrast@gmail for more information.