Stage as a moral institution - Schiller
The world is an ever evolving and changing place, facing new challenges the tried and tested stay the same and ring evermore true. Schiller’s text The Stage as a Moral Institution has not lost its touch.
“Never discuss politics or religion in polite company” was always the mantra as I was growing up. I never understood why, though if you look at todays debates, perhaps we can see. The amazing amounts of disinformation, opinions presented as facts and spin means we are caught in a web not knowing what is real. Healthy skepticism is perhaps the only way to take all news stories. The speed with which social media spreads information has meant that nothing is checked or even thought about before being spread. There is a general lack of ethics and nothing to really hold people to account (at least in the short term). Perhaps the reason for passion and extremities and culture wars in todays political world is a result of the lack of moral underpinning that has come as religion is in many parts losing its influence.
I grew up Catholic due to my Italian Heritage, though I was never a devout believer. I do appreciate the spirituality of a church and the energy that is present as one enters. The stillness and the space, the moment in time for reflection is very powerful. There is a lot to say for the morality and standards religion kept people to and how todays world seems to be lost due to the lack of beliefs. That said, the amount of damage done in the name of religion is probably proportionate…. so in the world at the moment we seem to be transitioning to being a-religious, somehow losing our values and decency. Of course this is a great generalisation and it is perhaps, that the most immoral people are usually the loudest.
Why do I bring this theme up? More culture theory! I have been reading another text by Schiller The Stage as a Moral Institution (English) (German - the text is slightly longer as it is from a speech. The English version starts at the asterisk about 5 paragraphs in). Schiller’s theory is that the stage is / can be the bridge between Politics and Religion.
This text needs to be given some context. At this time in Germany there were not so many permanent theatres and those that were permanent, were a part of the courts of the aristocracy. There was of course no other forms of artistic entertainment (thinking film, television, radio etc. here). It was also a time where there was a transition from theatre being for the court and becoming also a medium for regular people.
In the text we again find Schiller’s triads, Politics, Religion and Theatre or Laws, Morals and Higher Service or Head, Heart and Imagination/Creativity. The text itself is beautifully written, poetic. It is an appeal to our better selves. What it does show is how art, especially theatre, can be of value to society in such a way that news and opinion cannot. We can laugh at ourselves when presented in satire or cry at the tragedy of a depressing story, yet because they are just that - stories, they can say things that real life cannot. We can approach their message with a sense of perspective as it is “just a play” or a piece of theatre. It’s not life, but it can mirror what is happening in life around us and get us to think deeply about the points where politics and morals meet.
Many directors and producers are presenting pieces (theatre and film) about problems in society as well as creating satire to do with current events. Theatre hasn’t lost its power over the 250 years since Schiller wrote his text. Engaging with a piece of theatre or film gets us out of the instant gratification of social media and today’s ever quicker pace, slowing things down and putting us in a place where a message is well thought out, presented and developed in a thoughtful manner. Just the effort to produce a piece of theatre dance or film takes a lot of thought. It is an immersion in the idea or concept presented and explored. Yes, it can also be seen as an opinion yet a well thought out opinion. There is also a lot of “skin in the game”.
Skin in the game is a concept where a person has significant risk in an endeavour thereby making them vulnerable to the result. It is considered an honourable thing, as no-one desires to lose their own “skin” by producing something that is of low quality.
Here is another comparison to the instantaneous nature of social media, versus the time and effort invested to create a piece of art. By necessity, theatre and film can take up to several months to produce is a big investment of time, energy and usually money, meaning that there is a desire to create something of value.