Embuing it with as much importance to our lives as we would a betting shop. First, let s accept, for the sake of this argument, the premise that the arts is to do with the service of the soul. You perceive the world in a new way. Well, that, for the purposes of which I speak, is enlightenment. And the feeling experienced at a moment of enlightenment is nothing short of miraculous.
Artists provide a necessary function in our society.
The theatre, in this sense, takes account of the dualistic universe we live in, acknowledging the assumption that we cannot know the day if we do not know the night - without comparison we cannot define what we know. We spend much time in our lives and much energy in avoiding facing up to the truth about oursleves. In the theatre we can see all these things in full array and, at one remove, can become aware of these shadows and maybe even see if they have any direct relevance to us. Even if we can t go that far, it can only be a good thing to become more aware, a little tiny bit more conscious of some of the feelings and behaviours we normally shove to the backs of our minds. Yet I believe that within us all there is a fundamental desire for truth.