A Union of Hope Play at Centennial Olympic Park

The world is spinning with trauma and pain.  Once in a while, we need to stop and listen to the voice of the trauma survivor.  Trauma takes many forms, it can be real life in the now violence and it can result from a history of violence that a culture remembers.  We have places that give voice to Georgia's trauma, like the amazing history of Martin Luther King, Jr and other civil rights leaders.  We do not have a place I can readily recognize the current in the now voice of troubled and traumatized citizens.  The Dalai Lama was welcomed at the Centennial Olympic Park years ago to speak to the importance to compassion.  That stage would be a wonderful spot to dialogue on modern issues and theater is a great way to get people's attention.
I will never forget the theater of the protest of Martha Burke at Augusta National Golf Tournament.  There was a big pig that said, "While CEO's play, women pay."  There were puppets representing characters of the day.  As a participant, I thought it was a little over the top, but the truth is that it spoke to what many women were thinking.  It was a grand way of communicating a group's truth about exclusion of women.
We are in desperate need of dialogue in America and perhaps theater could release the pain and create symbols of healing for people.  We also need to practice the skills of compassion in relationships publicly.  Like, what if we had a hug in or teddy bear exchange after a play on the trauma of the moment that people are feeling.  There is much work to do to heal in America.

Peace and Love,
Carol