I would like to invite anyone who sees the show to post their comments here -
did you love it or hate it?
did it make you think?
did it make you laugh?
did it make you cry?
are you glad you saw it?
what do you want to see next year from the alumni?
Please share your thoughts!
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It was a wonderful play, beautifully acted by all. However, one detail (in the script I imagine) irked me and distracted my full engagement with the play. If there are indeed nuns who yearn for the excitement of being raped, there must not be very many. The idea that rape victims want it is one of the societal misperceptions that encourages the acceptance and allowance of rape. How can I be only 30 and too old fashioned to enjoy a show at NEYT? I am interested in hearing your thoughts on this aspect of the script.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you brought this up! It was an aspect that a few of us had a hard time with, me included. I do not think you are too old-fashioned at all for this show.
ReplyDeleteIt was a difficult moment, especially when it was taken out of context in the rehearsal process, but in the scheme of the play I believe it is an important place for Marguerite to start at. I think the interpretation and journey of Marguerite's character really informs this one moment.
Taken out of context as a nun asking to get raped, it is quite awful, and I agree that we don't want to propagate the image of women asking for raping. However, through the course of the play Marguerite really comes into herself and owns her feminine qualities.
Women in general in the play are portrayed as whores; mannequins; and this nun cleaning up messes, and looking for a raping - not well at all. Marguerite redeems herself and the image of women by becoming that "giantess that's hidden all her life." She owns and uses her gifts and uniqueness as a woman to get her own particular humor across, to forge relationships not based in sex, and to address in her final speech the *human* impact that the Floties had (where the males are more concerned with the impact of "Flotism" on themselves).
The experience of the play brought to mind a quote that I read recently from polish director Krzysztof Warlikowski, who seems to be laboring under the accumulated weight from too many centuries of escalating atrocities by humans upon every aspect of life on the planet, including each other of course.
ReplyDeleteIt reads thus -
"A victim's suffering does not make sense. Usually abnegation doesn't lead to anything and doesn't have much in common with heroism... I think we can only believe in the impossible or in something that has nothing to do with mankind."
I was thankful for the laughter in the play, for otherwise the picture it paints is all too grim.
Yet I urge the alumni to keep coming at us with challenging material.
And what a grim world this would be without laughter! Thank you for your comment - one of the things I love about this play is this (one of its many messages) - that there are plenty of sad and horrible things going on-without laughter how could we possibly endure it?
ReplyDeleteThe alumni shows in the past have been light and lovely comedy, I thought it might be neat to address "why comedy?" When I first saw this play in Boston 3 or so years ago, I was moved momentously by the idea that all the years I had spent playing and goofing and clowning for people were important and really could change people's lives for the better. Comedy is essential to the existence of Humanity! This play really put that in perspective for me. Laughter is a common thread through all cultures and beyond! I was listening to NPR a few months ago and they were doing a piece on some scientists trying to discover what different animals were capable of laughter, and what it sounded like! Laughter - a great evolutionary survival tactic, gift from God, blessing - it helps in facing difficult times.
My issue with the intended rape scene, in addition to reinforcing the image of victims' complicity, was the comedic approach. I wonder if this was intended by the playright? It seems to me that the intended rape, complicity by the nun were meant to be very dark and textured, to show how awful things had become, as a counterpoint to the humor brought by the red noses. When portrayed as PART of the humor, it didn't work for me...and ended up spoiling the impact of the contrast and leaving me ...well, sad.
ReplyDeleteI encourage the alums to pursue adult themes and difficult territory. It isn't about getting it right....it is about the learning process. Which means that close collaboration with those more experienced is important.
One person, mostly - might consider Johnny Got His Gun adapted for the stage by Bradley Rand Smith
ReplyDeleteor take on Ray Bradbury's The Pedestrian