27. Wangenheim's Solution
Lessons of the 'Troupe 1931' Theater Ensemble
The original author of these essays was Ingeborg Franke von Wangenheim.
I want to say something about the art of acting — and it is, most certainly, an art.
All actors share some common understanding of our work in the context of human liberty: The nature of our labor makes us necessarily flexible, never really constrained to any fixed dogma or idea. Nor does the job necessarily confine us to any specific role or acting method, to any political ideology or religion, or theatrical “school.” For our part, Troupe31 never was forced to pledge allegiance to any government or party, other than our own consensus-based, democratic theater group.
Instead, as actors, we are utterly and willfully committed to common human creativity. Consequently, we are dependent upon the collective, the creative productivity of our peers and, especially, those immediately around us. In our case, our peer association — our own “intentional community” — is our acting-ensemble, Troupe 1931.
