Another play I saw, way back in the 70s, was A Raisin in the Sun in New York City. This play was very real in the sense that it was about a family in the poor part of the city. Although the world of the play seemed real and could really happen, it was not "really" real because it did not happen exactly as it was portrayed. Or did it? It could have happened exactly as it way it was portrayed. One thing that makes it not "real" is the fact, unlike Spill, it did not revolve around a known incident that was in the news. It was also not advertised as being involved about what happened to people involved in a particular incident or being based on the story of these people. But on the other hand, it was also "real" in the sense that they used real furniture and props on the stage. Maybe the story did happened to a real family, I don't know.
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Real or Not Real?
I've thought about this prompt a lot. I haven't seen that much "real" plays or plays that follow the exact or close to the exact story of an specific event. However, I did see LSU's version of Spill and that seemed real to me as far as the circumstances of the actual spill goes. Having not watched the news that much, I didn't really know that much about it. I just know that there was this big oil spill in the Gulf. Watching this play, even though it was people acting out the story, it was very eye opening. And yes, I did believe all their stories. What really made it real was the paintings of people in the lobby, of the "real" people the story and the play revolved around. I understand that is was just a play and the actors were performing and in that sense, it was not really happening. But, when I heard that the people involved saw the play and remarked that it was exactly what happened to them and how it portrayed their experience and feelings, that made it even more real. Having the actual picture and video clips shown in the production as "proof" of the actual spill also made it "real." It was very "heart wrenching" seeing those pictures, especially the ones of the animals and how the spill effected them.
Another play I saw, way back in the 70s, was A Raisin in the Sun in New York City. This play was very real in the sense that it was about a family in the poor part of the city. Although the world of the play seemed real and could really happen, it was not "really" real because it did not happen exactly as it was portrayed. Or did it? It could have happened exactly as it way it was portrayed. One thing that makes it not "real" is the fact, unlike Spill, it did not revolve around a known incident that was in the news. It was also not advertised as being involved about what happened to people involved in a particular incident or being based on the story of these people. But on the other hand, it was also "real" in the sense that they used real furniture and props on the stage. Maybe the story did happened to a real family, I don't know.
Another play I saw, way back in the 70s, was A Raisin in the Sun in New York City. This play was very real in the sense that it was about a family in the poor part of the city. Although the world of the play seemed real and could really happen, it was not "really" real because it did not happen exactly as it was portrayed. Or did it? It could have happened exactly as it way it was portrayed. One thing that makes it not "real" is the fact, unlike Spill, it did not revolve around a known incident that was in the news. It was also not advertised as being involved about what happened to people involved in a particular incident or being based on the story of these people. But on the other hand, it was also "real" in the sense that they used real furniture and props on the stage. Maybe the story did happened to a real family, I don't know.
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Great examples, Sue. Both plays conveyed some sense of truth to you. Is there a difference, between these two very stylistically different productions, that those truths were conveyed? Did one affect you more than the other?
ReplyDeleteHey Sue! As a member of SPILL I had the privilege of breathing life into the stories testimonials of several men who were affected by the Spill. I portrayed two characters who for me, had an immense impact on my outlook of verbatim theatre and Leigh's "tectonic theatre" style of directing in this production. Christopher Pleasant was a member on the Deepwater Horizon who survived the explosion and had to testify in court and defend his integrity not only as a member of the Deepwater Horizon, but as a man. "Documentary theatre draws on this courtroom tradition of conflicting narration. Its practitioners use the archive as evidence to create a performance of testimony; audiences understand what they see and hear as nonfiction; the actors ostensibly perform “verbatim.” (Verbatim Theatre 213). The audience had the opportunity to watch and listen to unedited courtroom testimonials from Christopher Pleasant and others and it was up to them to form their own opinions on the subject. Did I sound or look exactly like Christopher Pleasant....No. But the facts were still present. I also had to opportunity of re-enacting the explosion with other ensemble members. "Documentary theatre is a form of theatre in which technology is a primary factor in the transmission of knowledge." (Verbatim Theatre 213) Leigh and Reeva choreographed this scene in a way that could aim for theatrical truth and verbatim, but in reality things didn't occur quite the same as our re-enactment. We don't know precisely how things were done. All we could draw from was testimonials from the rig workers. This, nonetheless, effectively moved the audience and helped them to connect to the families who lost loved ones in tragic explosion. There were several moments that exemplify the entities of Verbatim Theatre, while others were just attempts to authentically or "naturalistically" present Truth. The production affected me as much as it moved you, and I'm so grateful I had the chance to make history in the world premiere of SPILL!
ReplyDelete-Amar
I actually participated in both of these productions. I was in A RAISIN IN THE SUN in 2012 and SPILL this year. It's interesting that we talk about what is "real." The story of the rig explosion is real. It happened; however, I don't think people necessarily felt that "they were there" because Leigh took a very sensationalized, spectacle-like approach to the scene where the rig exploded. Also, we were speaking lines such as, "I felt a jolt" or "Then the rig exploded." Our words were past tense, but our actions were in the moment, so I think that's a type of abstraction that audiences probably found difficult to relate to. The space was also quite large and lacked the shape of what a rig would be like.
ReplyDeleteA RAISIN IN THE SUN, however, was a completely different experience. It cannot be said that A RAISIN IN THE SUN is real because it is not an event that actually occurred, though you're totally correct, it could have. However, people told me, frequently, after the show that they "felt like they were there." We performed the show in a tiny black box and the audience was quite close to the set. It also probably didn't hurt that the set is the Younger's apartment, which is quite small to begin with. BUT, THAT’S COOL RIGHT?! Does it make it any more real if you were so moved by the performance that it SEEMED real? What about if the story is real, but you’re not affected or can’t relate to it? Something to think about. . .