It’s Always Been the Whispers

If Sharks Were Men

Would they be nicer to the little fishes?

Enjoy an animated representation of one of Brecht’s most notable satirical fables.

With gems such as:

“If sharks were men, they would, of course, also wage wars against one another, in order to conquer other fish boxes and other little fish.”

and

“If sharks were men, there would, of course, also be art. There would be beautiful pictures, in which the sharks’ teeth would be portrayed in magnificent colors and their jaws as pure pleasure gardens, in which one could romp about splendidly. The theaters at the bottom of the sea would show heroic little fish swimming enthusiastically into the jaws of sharks, and the music would be so beautiful that to the accompaniment of its sounds, the orchestra leading the way, the little fish would stream dreamily into the sharks’ jaws, lulled by the most agreeable thoughts.”

The Covert Light of March

Posted by thoughtsontheatre

I’m out and about this week guys, exploring and wandering around a new city. Until I’m back and can tell you all about it, enjoy a little ode to March from master wordsmith Mr. Neruda.

‘March days return with their covert light’

March days return with their covert light,
and huge fish swim through the sky,
vague earthly vapours progress in secret,
things slip to silence one by one.
Through fortuity, at this crisis of errant skies,
you reunite the lives of the sea to that of fire,
grey lurchings of the ship of winter
to the form that love carved in the guitar.
O love, O rose soaked by mermaids and spume,
dancing flame that climbs the invisible stairway,
to waken the blood in insomnia’s labyrinth,
so that the waves can complete themselves in the sky,
the sea forget its cargoes and rages,
and the world fall into darkness’s nets.

– Pablo Neruda

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Bite-Sized Wisdom: Von Goethe

Posted by thoughtsontheatre

This German playwright breaks down an ideal way to spend the day. Funny how prescriptions from centuries gone by can still be entirely apt today.

“Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and, if possible, speak a few sensible words.”
– Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

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Surprising Benefits Hidden in a Cup of Tea

Posted by thoughtsontheatre

“There is a great deal of poetry and fine sentiment in a chest of tea”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hi all, hope your weekend was grand. Mine was dotted with a number of mini-celebrations in honor of a friend’s upcoming wedding. After a weekend full of running around and enjoying all that L.A. has to offer, we capped off Sunday with a much calmer and positively feminine event: a high tea ceremony complete with frilly hats. Feeling like we were caught up in an episode of Downton Abbey, we drowned ourselves in nostalgia and ten different types of tea. If you haven’t treated yourself to a cup lately, I highly recommend it.

Did you know that each cup contains a collection of essential ingredients for a better life? See below to find out what’s hiding in your next cup:

Humilitea
Possibilitea

Qualitea

Solidaritea

Abilitea

Equalitea

Individualitea

Serenitea

Insanitea

Confidentialitea

Vitalitea

Creativitea

Claritea

Longevitea

Familiaritea

Humanitea

Puritea
Levitea

Immunitea

Digestabilitea

Electricitea

Sensualitea
and

Festivitea

– Adapted from: Letters to a Young Zentrepenur – The Republic of Tea

How to Switch Hemispheres Without Ever Jumping on a Plane

Posted by thoughtsontheatre

I’m out and about this week guys, exploring and wandering around strange and wild lands. Until I’m back and can tell you all about it, enjoy the petit posts.

Because Hafiz’s poetry is always worth a listen:

All the Hemispheres

Leave the familiar for a while.
Let your senses and bodies stretch out

Like a welcomed season
Onto the meadows and shores and hills.

Open up to the Roof.
Make a new water-mark on your excitement
And love.

Like a blooming night flower,
Bestow your vital fragrance of happiness
And giving
Upon our intimate assembly.

Change rooms in your mind for a day.

All the hemispheres in existence
Lie beside an equator
In your heart.

Greet Yourself
In your thousand other forms
As you mount the hidden tide and travel
Back home.

All the hemispheres in heaven
Are sitting around a fire
Chatting

While stitching themselves together
Into the Great Circle inside of
You.

– Hafiz

from ‘The Subject Tonight is Love’, translated by Daniel Ladinsky

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Words, Give Me Words

Posted by thoughtsontheatre

“In a poet’s pocket you often find the product of an active imagination”

– Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac

Cyrano has been and remains one of my favorite classics of the stage if for nothing else than it rejoices in wit and celebrates words. It places language on a pedestal and dances about it, gloriously flourishing pivotal moments with clever witticisms and elegant romantic passages. It reminds us to vary our vocabulary, to find millions of ways to express a familiar sentiment, to never tire of playing with vernacular, and to find the colors afforded by the combination of brilliantly combined phrases.

And if you weren’t convinced for any reason that Kevin Kline is an incredible actor, I urge you to check out his performance as the tireless poet himself.