Two plays back-to-back (with a picnic in the park thrown in for good measure.)
The two plays both dealt with a loss of hope and humanity, but in opposite ways.The most exciting part was the way the set was transformed near the end. Best special effects ever, including lots of digital effects.
I found the production to be absolutely terrifying. What could be more chilling than the idea of losing your freedom to think, to speak, to choose? to have your very existence manipulated? and then to realize it has already happened, and easily could again.
Then the blood and gore started happening. And it was taken to such a degree that people in the audience fainted...easily half a dozen of them. Others simply walked out. Brutal rapes, beheadings, hands cut off, throats slit. It was a literal bloodbath. This was one time I was grateful I left my glasses home so I didn't have to see it all in detail.
Just as alarming was the way the actors hammed it up to the audience, milking the humor. And the way the audience responded...laughing, cheering...while this horrific violence is taking place. To top it all off, the curtain call at the end was like a Bollywood dance number: celebratory revelry. It was very disturbing.
I kept thinking of the Spencer W Kimball quote: "First you hold the image, then it is action, then it is you." I wondered, how much of that kind of behavior can we as a society watch before we start acting it out, becoming that ourselves?
We had deep, meaningful conversations with the students afterward about art and impropriety, how far is too far, how different people experience the same production differently, how important it is not to become desensitized, and underscoring our desire to have and feel the Spirit.
As we left the theater and crossed the Millennium Bridge to return home, the dome of St. Paul's glowing in the night sky was a sweet reminder of the source of peace.
1 comment:
Yeah, not a fan of that show. All male cast? When we were there we saw Twelfth Night/ all male. It was weird that after awhile I got used to the idea.
I am glad you are blogging about your time there.
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