Tag: arts

Margerumalia – Another Opening, Another Show

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – June 27, 2025

By the time you read this it’ll be opening night of our Civic Theatre Short Play Festival. I’ve directed one of the plays and I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s received.  

Last year I directed a ten minute play with three cows, this year I’m directing a ten minute play featuring three bags of dog food and a Roomba. 

Spoiler alert, Woofy has died. 

The bags of dog food are sitting in the pantry contemplating their inevitable end. The Roomba has no lines, it just moves endlessly around the stage. It’s an absurdist comedy called “Best Before” by Judson Wright.

Like “Waiting for Godot,” perhaps the most well-known example of absurdism, “Best Before” has some comic banter as well as some existential suffering, but what really touches me in this play is the final sentiment: you mattered.

I do feel that everyone matters and that our ability to empathize is one of the greatest features of humanity. It wounds me deeply when I see people intentionally stomp all over that gift in an effort to enrich themselves or show off their ability to be a winner. What is it to win when so much is lost?

I’m not talking about the mistakes we all make, a failure to see someone else’s pain, or the moments of weakness that cause us to lash out. Those can be humbling when we realize what we’ve done and our better angels remind us to do better.

Empathy and love are mighty forces and they breed even more empathy and more love. My wife and I continue to talk about our daughter’s wedding last month and the incredible “village” of friends and family who wrapped their love around two people, putting all of their effort into making it a memorable celebration that they pulled off without a hitch. Of course it helped that most of them were theatre people who knew how to pull off a production, but even the DJ and the photographer said it was one of their favorite experiences. You know the feelings were shining through.

Empathy is also the realm of the artist. Some of the most moving songs are written by artists who observed someone else’s pain or their joy. The greatest actors have the ability to move you by bringing genuine feeling to their roles. Photographers excel at capturing poignant visions of the world around you. The best story tellers draw you into the world of their stories and your range of experience grows as you place yourself in the shoes of those characters. 

I encourage you to support the arts in a time when funds are drying up and empathy is at a low ebb. Go to the library. Go to an art gallery. Go to a play…

Be great. You matter.

TTFN

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Margerumalia – A Case For the Arts and Humanities

Eric Margerum

I’ll be at Main Street Books during the Farmer’s Market tomorrow. MSB is a small charming independent bookstore with equally charming folk working there. I’m looking forward to meeting more readers tomorrow!

A few weeks back I was talking to a Chatbot about a script I had ordered but never received. The bot asked me: “Can you confirm that you have not received the script.” Hmm. At first glance it sounds like a yes or no question about receiving the script. But is it? Or is it a yes or no question about my ability to confirm? If I were talking to another human being, my expression or my tone of voice would help with my reply. But not with a chat bot. I thought about it very carefully and wrote back: “I have not received the script.” That worked. 

A few days ago, someone posted this on Nextdoor: “Amy cut my hair as well as my son…” Excuse me? Amy cut your son?!  The rest of the post was in praise of Amy and her skills, but the beginning of that sentence doesn’t seem to be going that direction. 

Why am I telling you this about the Chatbot and the Nextdoor post? Well, I’d promised to share the contributions from people who wrote ideas and put them in my “Most Amazing” book. The examples above are relevant to what one adult wrote: 

Museum of communication with semantics, common misunderstandings, various languages, expressions, tone, voice, diction, and ways to communicate. 

Granted it sounds like the summary of a master’s degree in communication, but she makes a good point. If only people were more skilled at expressing themselves clearly whether with words, like my examples, or with awareness of tone, expression, and so much more. 

I’m making a case for the arts and humanities here. They are the disciplines in which we develop empathy and insight into the human condition. As a director I can tell you that actors spend a lot of time parsing out the nitty gritty of words and phrases to find just the right vocal inflections, body language, and even pauses. It’s not just “playing pretend” although we like doing that, too. 

A recent article in our local newspaper reported on the lack of available driver’s training in our state. One mother described talking to someone at the BMV: ‘well, where do we go for the driver’s part of it? I need my kids to be able to get their license,’ and they said ‘we don’t know there’s a shortage.’” The last six words might be read two ways, either the person at the BMV doesn’t know the answer because there is a shortage, or they are denying any knowledge of a shortage. 

Good writing, as my friend Woody points out, should not have these tripping points for the reader. It should just flow. That takes practice, awareness, sensitivity, and communication skills. Something everyone has the ability to develop.

Would’t that be amazing?

TTFN

P.S. This PBS NewsHour segment about National History Day popped up in my podcast feed after I wrote the words above. It’s a perfect illustration of my point. 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/competition-inspires-students-to-explore-history-through-art