CheekyChicago

“If there is a future wave of wellness on this planet, of harmony, of peace, of an end to war, of mutual understanding, of equality, of fairness, I don’t expect it will come from a government, a military force or a corporation. I no longer even expect it to come from the religions of the world, which together seem to have brought us as much war as they have peace. If there is a future of peace for humankind, if there is to be an understanding of how these invisible, internal things should fit together, I expect it will come from the artists.” – Karl Paulnack

Karl Paulnack, the director of music at Boston Conservatory, believes that artists will be responsible for saving the world. Literally. And I tend to agree with him, except for one minor point. He thinks that artists are a select group of people with a specific skill set, focused knowledge and rigorous training. While working artists do have all those things, I believe that every single person alive is an artist. In fact, I think that is part of what makes us uniquely human. Thus (congratulations!), we are all capable of saving the world. Or, at least, changing it for the better.

My charge to all of the Cheeky women of the world this week is this: change the world. Commit a random act of theatre.

The notorious group, ImprovEverywhere, is best known for its Grand Central prank. On a busy Saturday afternoon, 200 actors (they call themselves “agents”) went into Grand Central and simultaneously froze – completely froze – for five minutes. In the busiest terminal in the world!

The point of their “missions” aren’t to disrupt the world or anger anyone. Their affiliations aren’t political, religious or activist in any way. According to their website, they just want to “create scenes of chaos and joy in public places.” In this, the umpteenth month of winter, surrounded by economic doom and gloom, couldn’t we all use a little chaos and joy? Wouldn’t that change our world just a little, tiny bit?

Now, this needn’t be an overly dramatic foray into theatre; the Cheeky Girl is no Drama Queen, mind you. Acts of theatre can be tiny gestures. They can be sneaky, dirty, funny or weird. They can make people giggle. They can take someone’s breath away. Chaos. Joy.

Here are a few examples: Someone in the office has been in a funk. Anonymously buy a modest (it is a recession, you know) bouquet of flowers and have them delivered at a time when the office is busiest. Never tell where they came from. Chaos.

Walking down the street as you pass someone you find really, really, really attractive, look them in the eye. Just look at them as you’re walking by. And as they meet your gaze, give a big “I think you’re sexy” smile. Then keep walking. Joy.

Buy your best friend’s favorite candy bar (full disclosure: mine is Twix) and snail mail it to them. Joy.

On the Brown Line, at 5:30pm, when your elbow is resting in someone’s armpit and someone else’s face is pressed up against your back, take a second to really take stock of how ridiculous that situation is and laugh out loud. Really laugh. Like a good, belly laugh. Viral laughter – always chaos.

Okay, it’s no global economic stimulus package, but I promise, a little Chaos and Joy in this world, right now, can’t hurt anyone. And who knows, maybe all of us, artists together, won’t end any wars, but we can definitely spread a few smiles.