Link:Blogging BLOODWORKS ~ Tonight!

Patrick Link:

“Well, you could always teach.”

People often say this to me. I’m not sure if it’s true, though. The thought of me addressing a class of eager kids ready to learn about the world terrifies me. It terrifies me so much I wrote a play about it. It’s called Dismissal and will be read tonight @Bloodworks.

Here’s my fear about teaching: that I would treat it like a show. I’d be like “Come to English class, we’ll have some laughs, tell some stories and if I can get you to care about a few books then great, but come primarily to have a good time.”

Maybe this isn’t the worst approach to teaching, but to me it seems like if you do this for too long it will come back to haunt you. Or at least that’s my fear. That I’d be so preoccupied with keeping my students entertained I wouldn’t adequately prepare them for the dangers surrounding them in the world—or even in the classroom. And that’s what Dismissal is about.

It’s about other things too: security, expression, career ambition and artistic failure.

And speaking of artistic failure, did I mention I have a reading tonight?

Patrick's Bloodworks reading of Dismissal (directed by Jordan Young; featuring Scott Sowers, Helen Coxe, Jake Aron, Patricia Randell, and Daniel Ziskie) is tonight at @Seaport @ 7 PM. Free of charge.