If you walked into Cutler Majestic Theatre on Monday afternoon or evening, you would have found a stage with 11 empty chairs illuminated by a single light. It was intended as a \u201cplace of reflection\u201d after 11 people were murdered in a shooting massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The marquees on Emerson College\u2019s Paramount and the Cutler theaters in downtown Boston bore a quote from the Talmud: \u201cDo not be daunted by the enormity of the world\u2019s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you to abandon it.\u201d (The stage has been changed in preparation for a show, but the marquee signs remain.)<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is something we do all too regularly,\u201d ArtsEmerson Artistic Director David Dower writes me. \u201cIt started the morning after the Charleston shooting\u201d in which eight people were murdered in a South Carolina church in 2015. \u201cWe opened the theater for silent reflection. People were sitting facing an empty stage so I just put up nine folding chairs in a line to support the reflection.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n11 empty black chairs. 1 Light. The Cutler Majestic @EmersonCollege<\/a> is open as a place of reflection in Boston. #TreeofLifeSynogogue<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/GVmmmAe6OL<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 David Dower (@ddower) October 29, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n