“The city in its complete sense, then, is a theater of social action, and an aesthetic symbol of collective unity” (Lewis Mumford) In my current theatre class we talk about the world as a stage and how we are following a script that we create. A city is definitely such, in a way that each script is connected in one way or another. I feel that the people of New York City, especially, have this flowing connection that on some level we are all aware of. It is the connection of belonging to a family from the, what I think, is the best city in the world. Often times I feel the city connections last even when we leave the city. As I have experienced aplenty, if a New Yorker was to go to another state, or another country, and meet a fellow New Yorker, the connection would immediately be established once again. It’s a beautiful feeling of belonging and a smaller feeling of being privileged.
A list of the notes I took in Madison Square Park
- I pass here almost every day
- When did they build a Shake Shack here?
- I saw no one feeding birds
- There is plenty of chairs here
- Dance competition!
- This must be a white-collar worker spot
- It’s pretty cold
- So many cute dogs
I do pass the park often as I take the R or the F train to school and then to work. However, this was the first time I actually stopped and went into it. It is really nice and while I did not spend a great deal of time there, I can see myself doing so in the future. It is a nice coffee spot or hangout spot for in between classes. I saw the people there as partaking in the “theatre of social action” in the way the lines moved at Shake Shack, the way people collectively moved out the way for a blind person and in how all the dog walkers didn’t hesitate to stop and let their dogs interact with each other. I sat down and simply let the city move around me and it was almost like a movie moment. There were certain things that really felt theatre like; when space emptied someone else moved to feel it; when a pair of friends went to sit down the first one to the table went to the further seat.
Being in any space to observe is very different than being a part of that space. However, I felt that while I was observing, in a way I was playing a part as well. I was what every show needs to be considered successful, the audience.
The medium I chose to express this experience is poetry and so I wrote a short poem about being in Madison Square Park.
I sat down and felt the wind.
A girl looked at me
Looked away
She drank her coffee and left.
I sat down and touched the table.
He was old and blind
He walked
The light turned green and he crossed.
I sat down and looked up.
The breeze enjoyed its break
On building tops
We zipped our jackets collectively.
I stood up and went to leave.
My seat was empty
For a minute.
Time for the next scene.
Tags: CIty Connections, Madison Square Park, NYC
Wow, I really loved the way you connected what you learned in your theater class to the concepts of Lewis Mumford. The city really is so beautiful and unwritten in every aspect, and I love the way you connected Mumford’s ideas to the way the city moves around you. Your poem is truly amazing, and I love how you incorporated the theatrical aspect into your writing. Well done!
You did so well with the poem and the fact that it rhymes I think shows a connection between all scenes. One line after another creates an amazing and different interpretation of the park. Furthermore, I, as well, go through the same park and feel like I am a part of the microcosm. Maybe, I was passing and was part of another’s city.
I love how you described your experience through a poem. A poem, itself, is a great representation and a tool to express a “collective drama” and describe a city. Additionally, I love how you concluded the poem with “time for the next scene” because there is so much action that occurs in a city /park and it leaves the poem with a chance for someone else to finish it.
Great work,
Andrew Langer
The idea that “each script is connected in one way or another” really resonated me. New York City is such a big, busy place that we oftentimes forget that it is also a community. We are so busy keeping to ourselves that we don’t acknowledge the common connection all inhabitants of the city share – that New York City is our home.
I also really loved your poem. There is beauty in its simplicity.
Great work!