Franklin Wayne Poley wrote:
> Good questions and the ones parliamentarians are paid to talk about. I'm
> not sure if I agree with the use of Canadian Forces or not in Yugoslavia.
> How could I decide except on some very basic emotional level unless we are
> told by Parliament what the PRINCIPLES are in this and related issues? Any
> guesses as to why they avoid such a discussion?
> FWP.
>
For the same reason that most commercial art is crap. It's dangerous
and you could lose your constituency. We are doing a show about
Women of Spirit at a Catholic college here and they have a very
interesting menu for the conference. The head of the school said
that we should speak the truth and so four of our women artists
searched their souls and are telling their stories through words
and music. It is very moving and very strong and one of the
women is a lesbian who was forced to become Episcopalian.
She is a wonderful artist and her story is poignant. I'm not sure
whether any one will be offended and I hope not but the point is
as you said: "what the PRINCIPLES are in this and related issues..."
Another is a black woman with a white Englishman who was
her father and a black mother and the singer is a Jewish
convert. She also happens to be a Wagnerian soprano who
must deal with Wagner's anti-Semitism and racism. She
says that the Creator made her voice and that she will not
allow Wagner to keep his genius for his racist, anti-semitic
buttocks. Genius is neither individual or cultural but is
from the Creator and belongs to all. So this mixed blood
African American Jewish woman rescues the Creator's
gifts from a bigot who should have learned from his own
potential.
The other two are less exotic but just as powerful as they
explore what it means to be a Mother and a Diva with the
other dealing with the rejection for telling the truth about
what the feminine perspective is often really about in this
world these days. As she sings, "We all live on borrowed
time."
So why should we expect politicians in this world to go hungry
or miss all of those wealthy parties? If they did that, they wouldn't
be politicians but artists!
Ray Evans Harrell, artistic director
The Magic Circle Opera Repertory Ensemble, Inc.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
