In ancient times, a stage was not simply a performance spot. Plays were tied to the Gods, and performances were a form of worship, making the stage an alter whereon the ancients sacrificed themselves for the pleasure of the Gods.
What were the Gods? The Gods were a concept, a mental construct that helped us get in touch with something on a higher level than simply the self. They were a way for us to connect to something beyond us, above us, around us… they were a way for us to put into words that mysterious untouched part of us that we all have and share… our sixth sense, our collective consciousness, our cultural super-ego. The Gods were the part of humanity that was greater than humanity. They were the us beyond us.
Over the years, we have lost faith. Faith in the Gods… and faith in a greater us. We have lost our ability to lean on each other… trusting no one, forgiving nothing. We have become a group of singularities, with nothing to unify us as a group.
Sometimes we remember that we used to be a people with a shared something beyond what we could readily grasp. That we used to revere what we could not define. That we worshipped that piece of us that is beyond our own comprehension.
Sometimes, we can still feel that something beyond us… it is an energy, a greatness that passes between audience and performer… You know those times. When you were performing, and the audience responded, and there was this something undefinable in the air… When you were in the audience, and you were kept on the edge of your seat… when actor and audience connect somewhere beyond themselves and remember that we are greater than we allow ourselves to be.
The stage is an alter. The audience the worshipers. The performers the sacrifice. And that unattainable something beyond is our religion.
Come worship with me.
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