Washington College Magazine
Alumni Snapshots: Activist in the Theatre
The dramatic arts are a new weapon in the arsenal of diplomacy. Cynthia Croot '91 uses theatre to promote social justice and the cause for peace around the world.
As an instrument for social change, theatre can be a powerful medium—a medium Cynthia Croot '91 has embraced as a director, playwright and teacher taking her message around the world.
Cynthia Croot '91 recently returned to campus to run her dramatic workshop "Viewpoints/Composition." Read more about her projects and performances at cynthiacroot.com.
In 2001, shortly after completing the master of fine arts program in theatre directing at Columbia University, Croot toured South Africa with the Venus Project Worldwide, directing Suzan-Lori Park's Venus. The play tells the story of Saartjie Baartman, an African woman presented in freak shows across Europe and sexually exploited, whose remains were publicly displayed in the Musée del'Homme in the early nineteenth century.
"These issues of sexual trafficking, human degradation and colonialism are still relevant today," says Croot. "We're trying to use theatre to tell the stories of those oppressed so that we expand the audience's response and inspire them to act."
Croot is a member of Amnesty International's Firefly Project and a lead organizer of Theaters Against War. In the first few weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, she worked with artist-teachers in NY, helping them challenge stereotypes and discourage ethnic violence in their classrooms. As a delegate of Columbia's Center for International Conflict Resolution, Croot was one of five U.S. citizens on a cultural exchange in Syria sponsored by the U.S. State Department. Subsequently, she was invited to share her experiences at Columbia's International Institute of Peace Educators in Rhodes, Greece, exploring the influence of art and the media on international conflict.
"Many organizations are doing essential work in peace building," she notes. "The arts aren't a replacement for that, but they do provide a haven where you can express ideas in a less pressured atmosphere, on a human level, creating the opportunity for conversations that are hard to have otherwise."
She and a colleague, Natalie Applewhite, are working on a documentary about their time in Syria. "I'd love it if people would view our film and realize, 'those people are just like me.' Before I visited the region, I was ignorant about the Middle East. My assumptions were overthrown by the people I met and the real beauty of the place." Croot juggles a busy schedule of readings, workshops and project development. In addition to the ongoing Venus project, she is developing a show about the life of Edna St. Vincent Millay (slated for October) and creating a political cabaret with playwright Tommy Smith. This summer she will direct Julius Caesar at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.
Croot will soon divide her time between New York, where her two shows will be staged next season, and Washington State, where she recently accepted a tenure-track position at Whitman College. She directed Spring Awakening there as a visiting artist in 2005.
"The opportunity at Whitman is special because they're interested in the international aspect of my work," says Croot, who has also taught at Bryn Mawr. "Our country is in a mindset where we believe in preemptive violence. I think we should embrace the notion of preemptive peace and work for understanding between peoples and cultures before things become dire."
Croot credits Washington College with giving her the tools to make a difference. "One of the most valuable things I took away from the College's drama program was a can-do mentality," Croot recalls. "The hands-on approach to staging a production—from lighting and set design, to costuming and dramaturgy—gave me the vocabulary that allows me to talk intelligently to people who do that work professionally. I understand all the pieces of a show because I've been on the ground, building those pieces. Nothing can replace that."
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