Can actors be regenerate artists?
This is a question I’ve wrestled with, especially since my area of artistic interest is that of the performing arts: Are you a regenerate artist if you perform the works (plays, musicals, etc.) of others?
What does it mean to be a regenerate artist? For those who have read Bob Briner’s Roaring Lambs, you may have noticed that it tended to be all about writing. He believes Christians should be involved in every culture-shaping profession, but seemed to suggest (or maybe he stated it outright, I don’t remember) that if you want to shape the culture, you have to write the script.
I definitely think there are two main reasons Christians can be called to the arts – to create culture shaping art (see Act One) and to personally impact the lives of other people in the arts (see Hollywood Prayer Network — okay, maybe not the best example, but you get the idea).
Granted, I think every Christian involved in the arts should aim to do both (and they feed off each other – you won’t gain others’ respect if your art is crappy and if your art is excellent you will impact others whether you want to or not). But I think there is a distinct difference between the two. I think the creation of culture-shaping art is directly regenerate, while regenerating the people who are in the arts is a somewhat more indirect way of being a regenerate. So I guess it’s both/and.
But, I would still ask the question of whether performing others’ works is a regenerate activity. To the degree that one is so talented one can control which works are performed, I would say yes. But simply signing up to play a citizen of Padua in a local performance of Kiss Me Kate, probably not so much.
I’ve drifted toward producing (and am tempted toward directing) because that gives me the ability to determine which show is performed (a potentially regenerate activity), as well as to shape a show to emphasize a redemptive message. But even that can have its limits.
My sole producing credits have been of two iterations of a musical revue of my own creation – God on Broadway. In 2007, I pulled together 11 songs from Broadway shows that I felt dealt with spiritual themes and recruited some talented folks to sing them. I paired each song with a Bible verse that I felt communicated the same message or interacted with it in a very interesting way. For 2008, I took it a step further, utilizing more songs and throwing in several monologues, as well. In that iteration, rather than pairing songs with Bible verses, I instead ordered the songs to create somewhat of a spiritual journey story arc and explained that framework in the program.
That all sounds very regenerate, right? Perhaps. But in the second iteration I found myself increasingly frustrated as I tried to shoehorn songs into the themes I wanted them to be, while at the same time wanting to respect their original context. And occasionally I’d find myself scouring my Broadway CDs trying to find a song that fit the underdeveloped theme I was trying to flesh out, bemoaning songwriters who threw in a single phrase that made a song unusable for my purposes.
That’s when I came face to face with the limitations of using the works of other people. And that’s when I really, really wished I was a songwriter and could just come up with songs of my own.
So, back to the original question: Are actors regenerate artists? Or more broadly, are those who perform the works of others (songs, shows, whatever) regenerate if they are not the one selecting the work?
What say ye?
I think what is missing is the relational piece (which I find surprising from you, Mr. Zempel!) Actors find and experience community in ways that most church small groups only dream about. As a citizen of Padua in Kiss Me, Kate, you may not be creating culture on the level of large social change, but you are most likely changing lives. Instead of trying to produce the next Chariots of Fire, what if we tried to produce the next disciple?
I fully acknowledge the relational aspect — that’s what I meant by personally impacting the lives of people in the arts (admittedly, Hollywood Prayer Network was a bad example, since that isn’t about personal relationships with people in Hollywood, it’s simply about praying for people in Hollywood). I definitely think there is value in “regenerating” people individually through discipleship. But I also think there IS value in producing the next Chariots of Fire or Les Miserables or Joan of Arcadia or Bruce Almighty… My question is whether performers can engage in that kind of regenerate activity or are they limited (as fantastic as it may be) to regenerating through personal discipleship? If you told most artists that the art they create isn’t important, it’s only the relationships they build, I think they’d disagree. :o)
Okay Mr. Snarky-pants. Let me just remind you here that I’m not the one questioning the value of the art that our actors are creating…you are.
And I’m not just talking the regenerate nature of artists in their ability to be salt and light (though I think that’s important), and I’m not saying that we shouldn’t pursue the end products of regenerate art (like Chariots of Fire). I’m simply saying that actors, as they hone their craft, may bring glory to God (and thereby be actively regenerating art) simply by doing what they do with excellence. It’s the process of art as opposed to the product.
I’m not even going to try to capture the ongoing offline conversations we’ve had about this. But maybe you could follow up with another blog post later.
I feel like this is getting into the tired debate of “what makes music Christian” and Lord knows we don’t want to go there.
This is what I get for splicing and dicing my wonderfully expansive definition of “regenerate.”
You’re right, in this instance I was narrowing the focus to that of the end product and asking whether actors/performers who perform the works of other people (read lines written by others or sing songs composed by others) are engaging in a regenerate act of creation. Obviously, your answer is yes. I think I agree. [For a second there, I thought you were going to quote my favorite Elisabeth Elliot line – "A jellyfish glorifies God simply by being a jellyfish, for by being a jellyfish it fulfills its creators command." I know how much you love it.
]
I think this is provoking a post on the myriad ways one can be a regenerate – by impacting other artists through personal relationship, by creating your artwork with excellence and thereby glorifying your Creator, by creating works of art that communicate redemption, hope, beauty, truth to your audience, etc.
I was VERY close to including that jellyfish line. Very close.
proactol for easy weight loss…
Proactol like a healthy way of making it easier to take charge of your easy weight loss and eating habits. …