Sunday, December 2, 2012

The Power of Story

Last week, I saw The Twenty-Seventh Man, a play by Nathan Englander.  I wanted to briefly mention it here because the ideas are big and they are relevant to those of us trying to create something with words.

The gist of the play here, (a true story) : In 1952 Stalin imprisoned and executed 26 Yiddish writers, an incident also known as the Night Of the Murdered Poets. Englander invents a 27th prisoner, a young, unpublished writer mistakenly taken into custody.

The play is about many things but, at the heart of it, it's about extinguishing the soul of a group of people, which, Englander suggests (and I would agree), is its stories.

I think, most of the time, we see this as a part of a time gone by or a foreign country tucked safely in the folds of newspapers.  But it happens here, too, through censorship, banned books, white-washed covers.

This play reminded me that it's important to tell any story and, if we can, to speak for groups of people who have been silenced.  Story is powerful. Don't let anyone tell you it's not. People will go to great lengths to capture and contain the spin of words, then eliminate them all together.

7 comments:

  1. So very true. And sometimes we need more reminders that we have so much freedom in this country, and yet things like book banning still manage to creep in on those rights.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Another thoughtful post. Thank you, Melissa. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've always said that stories hold the soul of humanity, therefore, writers are the stewards of the soul (and this relates to storytellers in all mediums of art). And yet it is so very hard to tell our own stories. I've also always said that part of my purpose as a writer is being the voice for those who can't speak for themselves. This is easier for me--to tell another's story. But all stories matter--yours, mine, theirs, ours...all of them. And so we must sit down and write, we must tell them. Thanks for sharing this, Melissa.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Agreed: Story is powerful. Sounds like you were touched by this one.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This sounds like an amazing story. Love your thoughts on this.
    Catherine Denton

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've never heard of this play, but what you're saying is so true. Censorship is a terrible thing. Thanks for a thought-provoking post.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Loved this and am thinking of you.... xo b

    ReplyDelete