On the surface, generosity may seem like a rather simple concept. Person One is nice to Person Two and Person Two is grateful.
But the new Clarence Brown Theatre play "The Open Hand"reveals a hidden complexity that accompanies nearly every act of generosity. "It's about not only our discomfort with generosity, but how people are ungenerous," says Calvin McLean, the play's director.
McLean says the play looks at common scenarios and how we respond emotionally to them, such as the conflict that arises when a panhandler asks for change or the unease you may feel when someone presents you with a gift.
The play, written for CBT by Robert Caisley, was developed over the last three years with the same group of University of Tennessee graduate-level acting students. “When the play finally opens before an audience these students will have enjoyed the experience of designing the first production, of being the original cast, and of finding much of themselves in the characters, action, and stage environment of a new play,” MacLean says. He says the world premier of the play on March 30 is "kind of a graduation present to them."