Nov 11 - Open Our Eyes
James Holden, Managing Director of PR, Design and Marketing specialists Leader finds inspiration for our times from a new play at the RSC.
I’ve recently been to see ‘Written on the Heart’ performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. It’s a new play written by David Edgar to tie in with the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible (KJB) and what a remarkable performance the company delivered in their newly refurbished home in Stratford-upon-Avon.
The play is based on some of the people who played a key part in the production of the KJB –the biggest selling English language book ever. Like it or hate it the KJB has undoubtedly played a huge role in the history of the English speaking people and indeed no less an atheist than Richard Dawkins has stated that ‘Not to know the KJB is to be in some small way, barbarian.’
And yet as ‘Written on the Heart’ makes clear the vital work that preceded the KJB was not welcomed. William Tyndale, whose work constitutes around 80% of the KJB, was forced to flee to Germany in 1524 in order to carry on his work and the fruit of his labours had to be smuggled into Britain only to be burnt ceremonially outside St Paul’s Cathedral. In the mid 1530’s Tyndale was arrested for heresy and in a moving scene Edgar shows us Tyndale incarcerated in a Flanders dungeon shortly before he was executed
And yet the powers that be (there’s a KJB expression for you!) could not hold back the force of the written word presented directly to the people in a style and methodology suited to the times. In many ways we find ourselves in a similar position today. The communications revolution that we have witnessed in recent times has changed the world every bit as much as the printing press did at the beginning of the modern era. If you need convincing, just take a look at the role that Twitter and the humble SMS have had in the Arab Spring.
It might seem odd then, that I still talk to a lot of organisations that have been remarkably naïve in their attitude to the possibilities for better conversations that new technology offers them. Some seem to want to hold things back, many seem to live in denial, whilst others leap into the virtual world with abandon – failing to think through what they are trying to achieve.
According to Foxe’s Acts and Monuments of Martyrs, William Tyndale’s last words at the stake were: ‘Lord, ope the King of England’s eyes’ and perhaps those words are still relevant as we reflect on how the technology revolution has presented us with new possibilities that could really help our organisations to thrive in challenging times but which we haven’t yet seen.