“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.
