RAT PhilaRatPhest & Beyond...

[Alfred Vitale <alfredvitale@yahoo.com>]

Hello Rats!

I just got back from the PhilaRat Fest Wrap-UP, and i
had many thoughts about what was said and done this
weekend. 
What i took from this gathering, as this was my first
one and i'm not a "theater person" (though i am a
writer), was that there is a sense that RAT is at some
juncture which is awaiting either
definition/organization or non-organized generation of
organic discord and a loosening of definition. Perhaps
that's really just two choices out of many variations,
but i got the feeling that there is a question about
what RAT will exist to serve and how. 

I think RAT is one of many artistic tribes that fly
"under the radar". What struck me immediately was that
these other artistic tribes don't collaborate as much
as they could. Erik, in his workshop, talked of
collaborative efforts. to me, this extends OUTSIDE our
own disciplines as well as within. i'm reminded of the
collaboration between the Puppet Theatre groups here
in Philly with the Direct Action Groups during the RNC
last year. This synergy wielded a LOT of power, as
evidenced by the raid and subsequent arrest of over 70
puppet makers and siezure of the materials from their
warehouse. some believe that the lack of puppet
materials threw a wrench into the activist strategy
because those puppets carried messages that were
intended to reach everyone. without them, lots of the
actions looked like vague protests rather than focused
actions. 

so i wonder...where are the collaborations with RAT? 

i'm involved with a writer's group that has many
parallels to RAT...we're known as The Unbearables.
we've been together since the early 1980s, Hakim Bey
was a founding member, and we've been "under the
radar" but pretty radical in our art, especially in
relation to what else is in the literary world. we are
now at the same critical juncture as RAT. erik said
today that he thought perhaps the name RAT should
disappear...we've been considering an end to the term
"unbearables" as well. 

is there some sort of zeitgeist that we can now
recognize, thanks to the net, as a non-local
phenomenon? can we use synergies with other arts (the
art tribes under the radar) to make a larger,
"meta-collective" that remains as unorganized, but now
has a unique ability to SURROUND the center and make
it surrender????  

i gave a workshop on something that is not a part of
theater, yet i felt that it had something to
contribute. only a small part of this workshop was
that esoterically theatrical so as to possibly dispel
non-theatre folks (like me)...most of it seemed
relevant to any artists who are striving to just BE
their art without "mediation" (hence, RATS are
immediatists). 

i'd love to open a discussion on this. i think it's
important that we recognize that there are parallels
all over the place but we haven't gotten wind of them
yet. if we did, could you imagine the network?
wouldn't RAT theatre benefit from collaboration with
those who are on the front lines of actions for social
change? or pushing the boundaries of art? or media? 

thanks for reading this. apologies for the length, but
i'm verbose and jazzed to see what can happen with
RAT.

alfred
PS: "RAT Happens", remember that



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