American culture:Post-Narrative Storytelling and Rugged Individualism

 American style theater is the narrowly defined focus on storytelling. Often the story is reduced to the events surrounding a lead character and their actions upon other characters. The focus is on the egoic structures centered around a very American notion of individualism and identity. I understand why it exists as this focus permeates American culture to the exclusion of most else. It is also the aspect of American culture that I least resonate with.

Bloodshed, slavery, and genocide aside, the idea this country was founded on was not the individual against everything but a more collectivist community. As the preamble to the U.S. Constitution states: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Image took from biarpress 

This is the intent of the Constitution. A collective act to create a better world for those who acted and future generations. The idea of the rugged individualist is more a historical accident born from the Western expansion of the American Empire. But as this country evolved, and moved towards practical concerns and away from its idealistic origins, the focus and intent of the culture was changed along with it. Thus, we arrive at the present moment where the legacy of that rugged individualism is infused into every nook and cranny of the American experience.

It manifests in the work we see on stages as well as more pop-culture. Not only do these ideas present themselves in the literal narrative of written text, but also in the visual storytelling; scenic design, clothing, lighting, sound, and so forth. Too often the focus, as a function of the typical American disposition, gets placed on the actions of the character to the exclusion of everything else. Much like “Secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves” gets extracted from the rest of the constitution in a vain act of ego inflation.

While this can be fine entertainment, and certainly is a reflection of one aspect of American culture, it fails to express the fullness of that culture and, like much of American politics, ignores the founding dream upon which this nation came into being. We have lost our core belief as a country. As a result, our nation, our culture, and the world suffers.

To focus only on the egoic actions of the lead character(s) ignores the social context in which these characters exist. Social relationships are ignored or mitigated in terms of significance. Forget about social context. A set is nothing more than a representation of a place in which a person acts. Even when abstracted. The very thought of scenography as, perhaps, a resonant chamber against which actions might echo and reverberate is all but ignored.

New York took by a friend of mine-Nancy lee 

There are two American theater artists I can think of whose entire process breaks down these problematics and builds a new potential vision of culture. Anne Bogart with her viewpoints method gives us a vector to reclaim collectivist social space within a theatrical context. The other is Richard Foreman. Probably my favorite theater maker in this country, he understands how the entire design, from scenery, to costumes, to lighting, to sound, must all work to provide a context in which action occurs. The action on its own is of no significance if it is not placed within a context.

To simply “tell the story” of the lead character is to fall prey to the trap which ensnares American culture and politics. It is to see the individual as more important than the group. The now as more important than the future.
To fully embody the self we must transcend our culture. To transcend does not mean to leave behind. It means to fully incorporate it and build beyond its capacity.


With the traditional American mode of storytelling we miss out on some great theatrical opportunities. Real people doing real things are not interesting on stage. Realism and naturalism are far better handled by film. American performance, by and large, has forgotten the essence of true theatricality. Spectacle is certainly present, but theatricality, that magic of liveness, where things happen which are only compelling because they are live, is rare.

Perhaps we need a return to origins. Just as this country could stand to read through the constitution again and truly soak in what was actually said. From this more solid foundation we become better able to move forwards and create strong and powerful works which engage our audiences and transcend their beliefs as to what is possible.