Ensemble Diaries:TSP Ensemble Member Olivia Baseman

The Seeing Place Theater is thrilled to announce its 2016 Fundraising Initiative. As a part of the initiative we want you to give you a chance to get to know our members, so we gave them a little challenge. To start, the Seeing Place asked each of its members 3 questions which they could answer via text or video:

1) What is your hometown?
2) What is your dream role?
3) When was the last time you contributed to a campaign and how did it make you feel?

We then asked them to craft a little blog post about what brought them to The Seeing Place and why it means so much to them. We hope you enjoy getting to know our ensemble!


"THEATER IS A VITAL LIVING THING" BY OLIVIA BASEMAN

[imagine you are in a theater, it is dark and you feel the excitement of the other people around you, you hear their breathing, sense their anticipation… then the lights go up, maybe someone speaks and you are transported to another place, this is theater, this is the seeing place.]

We all hear daily about how NYC is losing all it’s artists…how impossible it has become to live and make work here. And I for one frequently find myself questioning why I stay…I could take my work somewhere else (Detroit, LA, Chicago, New Orleans… the list goes on) where it seems it (and I) would be so much more appreciated. So why do I stay?

Because I still think NYC has a chance. A chance of staying relevant. A chance of being a place where creators, not just users and regurgitators can thrive…

Small theaters are where the great ideas come from. Where the crazy experiments turn in to legendary works…It is difficult and expensive to “make something new” but if we don’t we can’t move forward. Theater is a vital living thing. That's why it still exists. Because no matter what (and especially now when our lives are curated for posterity in our social media feeds everyday) human beings need a place where they can go without fear of judgment and experience things together…The Seeing Place is that, and that’s why I’m an ensemble member.

[Climbs down off soap box, hides in back row]


3 Questions

1. Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA and NYC
2. Dream Role: Whoever I’m playing now.
3. Last time I gave: To a theater company of course! It made me feel like I was "part of the solution"…

Learn more about Olivia at www.oliviabaseman.com


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To help create new work with Olivia and The Seeing Place by contributing to our campaign, visit www.TheSeeingPlaceTheater.com