Theater Ideas Newsletter: June 21-July 9, 2025
Greetings! I could have sent this newsletter last Friday, but I didn’t think anyone would open it on Independence Day, so I held off.
Housekeeping
A while ago, I announced the arrival of “fleeting thoughts” on the blog. After posting a few, I decided that they made the blog main page look kind of junky and haphazard. Rather than abandon them entirely, I’ve moved them to a separate page: https://scottwalters.net/fleeting-thoughts/.
For those of you who want to follow my blog posts while the pixels are still drying on the screen, the RSS feed (I continue to use Feedly for following blogs) is https://scottwalters.net/blog/701835956.xml.
Blog Posts
In my continuing quest to find new ways to use AI in teaching, I decided to use Google’s NotebookLM help me to prepare to read the first 3 chapters of John Locke’s 1689 “Second Treatise of Government.” Here’s how it went: Using AI to Read John Locke.
On June 28th, I received a box of the 3rd edition of Introduction to Play Analysis. I explained why I was excited about this edition: Unboxing! 3rd Edition of "Introduction to Play Analysis."
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been working on a personal project to examine my own values and beliefs, and put them into words. One of the areas I started questioning first was my political values. I had been curious about classical conservatism and how it developed in the 20th and 21st centuries (the Never-Trumpers are probably representative figures in this regard). Here’s how it went (bonus: a video clip of Shere Khan in the original Disney Jungle Book): It Ain't Me, Babe.
Fleeting Thoughts
On June 16th, the Associated Press announced, "The world’s most-visited museum shuts down with staff sounding the alarm on mass tourism." Apparently the staff spontaneously went on strike "during a routine internal meeting, as gallery attendants, ticket agents and security personnel refused to take up their posts in protest over unmanageable crowds, chronic understaffing and what one union called “untenable” working conditions." Theater people who have been trying to explain diminished attendence as COVID hangover should take note.
I want to consider this video, by the founder of Strong Towns, as a starting point for some analogical thinking. In it, Strong Towns founder Charles Marohn questions why we have designed our towns to accommodate deliveries from large trucks. I found myself struck by the way that siloed thinking leads to decisions that are made without considering the major effects it will have on other aspects of life I was particularly struck by his discussion of the fact that Venice has no cars or trucks because of the canal system; in the comments, one reader shared an example of how garbage is removed from Venice. Anyway, it got me to wondering what decisions in other areas have shaped to a large degree the possibilities available -- or the possibilities that seem availabale, but that might be transcended simply by reconceiving the "rules" we have imposed.
And that’s it! It’s been very hot here recently, and I’ve been avoiding my non-air conditioned study. I’ve also been working on the sequel to last year’s Fence Project. This time it’s personal. And I might or might not be starting a new book project…
All the best, Scott