Lance Gharavi: The Actor as a Cultural Physician

Interview by Eduardo Barraza

Tempe, Arizona. October 15, 2004 – Dr. Lance Gharavi. An actor, director, performance artist,
technologist, scholar, and educator. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in 2000 and is
currently Assistant Professor of Performance Technology for the Department of Theatre at Arizona State
University. An early pioneer in the field of digital performance, he was one of the co-founders of the
internationally celebrated Institute for the Exploration of Virtual Realities. His work has been widely
written about in books, journals, and magazines around the world, most recently, in Antonio Pizzo's
Teatro e mondo digitale (Marsilio, 2003). His most recent article, Dancing on the Emerald Table: (Mis)
adventures in Performance and Esoterica is forthcoming from Text and Performance Quarterly
(Routledge).

BARRIOZONA: How can theatre make a social contribution?

Lance Gharavi: Broadly speaking, theatre makes a social contribution in the same myriad ways that art in
general does. Theatre creates the cultural life in which we all live, it reflects our image back upon us, the
way we live, fight, die, and love. It is a forum for us to grapple with eternal questions and the pressing
issues of our day. More specifically, however, there have been many theatre practitioners in the last
century whose work was and/or is dedicated to social change. I have in mind particularly the work of
Brecht and Boal.

BARRIOZONA: Can theatre produce public discussion of vital social issues?

Lance Gharavi: Yes, undoubtedly so. Again, this is one of the roles that theatre, and art more generally,
serves. Since 9/11, I have given much thought to the role of the artist in society. They say that
everything changed after 9/11. If this is so, it means that the role of the artist changed as well. But has
it? And if so, in what way? I'm not sure. Perhaps our roles as performers are the same as they always
were: Fool, tramp, jester, gadfly, mourner, clown, judge, conscience, etc.

BARRIOZONA: Why is it important to present these types of issues?

Lance Gharavi: In the past decade, the popular press has fallen into the hands of fewer and fewer
companies, fewer and fewer interests. Art in general and theatre/performance specifically can, perhaps,
serve to break into the benumbing cacophony of homogenized voices that dominate social discourse. Let
me use a metaphor here. When a species reproduces within too small a gene pool, when it doesn't
receive enough variety from new genetic sources, it becomes weak and prone to disease. The same may
be said of our culture and our discourse. When things become too homogenized, the society and culture
become decadent, weak, and easily led. The society becomes sick. The artist, in this regard, serves an
important function. To shift metaphors for a moment, the artist can serve as a cultural physician,
diagnosing and applying therapy --often of the homeopathic variety.

BARRIOZONA: What has been your experience with "Honorable Discharge"?

Lance Gharavi: “Honorable Discharge” juxtaposes the death of Mario Madrigal, Jr. with the war in Iraq.
The piece is for me about how people respond to what they believe is a threat, how they respond when
they think they are in danger. Police perceived the 15-year old boy as a threat, and in a similar way, the
government perceived Sadamm Hussein as a threat too. In both situations they responded with
overwhelming force. The response is irrevocable: you can’t undo it; you can rebuild, but you can’t undo it.
And the saddest of all is later realizing that you made a mistake. The police and the military may not
admit it was a mistake. One reason may be because of arrogance, but mainly because recognizing the
mistake undermines power itself. People may lose confidence, and they need people to have confidence
in the government. They fear for their lives; they fear losing power. The piece also explores, through a
number of voices, what it must feel like to kill a 15-year old boy; what it must feel to be the mother of
that boy. It is a very low-tech piece; we use two microphones, a bull horn, and a tape measure to
discuss the safety zone. For me, it is fascinating that there’s actually a distance. What is the nature of
this line? We have to respond to that: where’s that line for you, for me, for the country?

BARRIOZONA: Is an actor an activist?

Lance Gharavi: Actors are lousy activists, generally speaking. It's like asking "is a taxi driver a traffic
cop?" The jobs are just different. Of course, an actor can be an activist, but the jobs remain largely
separate. However, it's interesting to note that the two words have the same root. They both emerge
from the verb "to act". Do something. That is the imperative for both the actor and the activist.

THEATER AS THERAPY "When
things become too homogenized,
the society and culture become
decadent, weak, and easily led. The
society becomes sick. The artist, in
this regard, serves an important
function."
Photo courtesy of Dr. Gharavi

E duardo Barraza is a journalist and writer,
Barriozona Magazine's editor, and director of
the Hispanic Insitute of Social Issues.
E-mail: editor@barriozona.com