THE DRAMA CIRCLE

Promoting Bahá'í-inspired Theatre Initiatives

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Artists!
Energize the Institute Process with Your Craft

   In our attempts to 'gracefully integrate' the arts into our community's activities, it's highly beneficial if those individuals with artistic skills and aptitude share the wealth of their art with members of study circles, junior youth groups and children's classes. 

     As artists, when we present  work of a high quality, it has the effect of infusing the community with energy. When, however, we spread the seeds of that art  at the grassroots and nurture their growth, we create the possibility of an even greater harvest of energy. This notion is born from the same principle as animates study circles:

    One may well ask: are not the spiritual insights, the knowledge, and the skills associated with the arts needed to carry out the expansion and consolidation of the Faith? As the House of Justice said in its Ridvan 1996 Message to the World,

 A group of youth learn playwriting (2006)

(cont'd from previous column)
      In particular, we may do well to take aim to empower some of the main protagonists of the current Plan, such as tutors, junior youth animators, children’s class teachers, as well as youth and junior youth. These are specific populations that may be able to best take the skills and put them to service for the Cause. 
     These 'art supplements' may be simple and consist of a workshop or two, designed simply to give the participants a taste of the art. They may be more complex and involve a deeper kind of training, which will empower those who participate with the skills that they may then put to service. Our "Principles of Drama" course is an example of this latter kind of training, and we are happy to provide it for your perusal. [Training]

     The importance of the arts is, of course, referred to in the Ruhi sequence, in the final section of Book 7 entitled "Promoting the Arts at the Grassroots." The presentation there, while encouraging, gives little skill base to practice, and it falls on the tutor and his or her previous experience or lack thereof to carry out that guidance. It would seem a natural next step for training institutes to encourage Bahá’í artists to begin to innovate spiritually-grounded lessons to aid their fellows in expressing their devotion through the sacred practice of the arts. 
     If you're interested in pursuing this, contact a tutor, junior youth animator, or institute coordinator to consult on ways to make it work. Also, join us by adding your thoughts or experiences on the discussion board.

Guidance

  "Courses branching out from the main sequence [will] emerge as a result of efforts to meet specific training needs... Some could form the basis for deepening classes at the grass roots, while others might contribute to the formation of a set of branch courses.
  ...if carried out in a spirit of service and devotion it will yield fruit and help to infuse your community’s life with an all-important creative and artistic spirit."

From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
[Full letter]

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