Sun, May 15
... Caught between this life I lead and where I stand
Well, the show is over. Strike is finished, and I'm at home in my pyjamas, looking ahead to three-ish months of a very clear calendar. Kind of a nice feeling, actually.
Before I forget all of the conversations I've had surrounding this play, let me write some of the reactions I've gotten. If you saw the show...dialogue with me. What do you think about the various reactions people have had?
Blair: "What I got from the show? All the world's problems are caused by women, and bad parenting, especially bad mothering, screws people up for life." I'm not sure it was totally his cup of tea--I think that not only was the story a little different than he anticipated; the style of theatre was different, too. He was disturbed by the Virgin Mary speech at the end, and put more emphasis on it than was initially intended, I think. Also, commented on the idea that it shows what happens when parenting isn't a team effort.
Mom: "It was... interesting. It's definitely an Alida show." Again, I'm not sure it was completely her style of theatre, but I don't think she disliked it as intensely as Blair seemed to. She was very affected by the music box scene, and reacted to that more strongly than I would have expected her to.
Dad: Liked it more than Mom did, I think. He came to some of the same conclusions that I did--he thought that Antonia was one of the "other women." He also thought that one of the sons was illegitimate, which wasn't even something that we had really considered in the process.
Laurel: Really enjoyed it, and said that it made her think a lot about what happens when we follow each other. The story says a lot about women following men, and she sees that in life, but also said that men need to be careful to balance out who they follow. If men just begin to follow women, just for the sake of change, instead of also following other men, we end up with a society that is confused and has no clear roles or guidelines. Also, she had an interesting take on the Virgin Mary speech (which, incidentally, is one of the spots in the script that I have struggled most with since the beginning). Parents often see pain their children's lives as an indication of something bad--bad parenting, bad upbringing, bad choices--and they often blame themselves, wondering what they could have done differently. Pain isn't always the result of something direct like that, though, and Jesus' life was filled with pain, none of which was Mary's fault. It's just a part of life, and that speech can be taken as an encouragement in that regard.
Ken: The mother reminded him of his grandmother, and it makes him wonder what sorts of thoughts she had. She was a quieter, more old-fashioned woman, and he wonders what kind of inner life she lead, even through all the things she was like on the outside.
Laura: She absolutely loved it, and it made her think about how she wants her life to be. What are the biggest priorities, and who does she want to become? What does providing for a family mean? Does it mean working lots to give them lots of things, or does it mean being there? It reminded her of parts of her childhood, and some of the things that she wants to do differently with her own children somday.
Ed: Wasn't quite sure how to react, and apparently I'll be getting an email soon, discussing it further. He saw the consequences of arrogance and rage, though. Each character had their opinions, and each one was right in some aspects, and wrong in some aspects, but they all had some level of arrogance about their own views. All three of them, but particularly the Bum and Gentleman, were unwilling to bend in their opinions, and that lead to rage, and the consequences of their rage were deadly. It made him think about the consequences of our actions--maybe they're not that extreme, but what does it look like when we allow arrogance to take over?
As for me... well, my journey through this play encompasses all of this and more. This script has permeated my thoughts for months, and has been rolling around in my brain for a very long time. It's almost memorized now, and even still, I find something fresh every time I've seen it. Even in talking to everyone who came, and hearing their stories and interpretations, I've seen things that I didn't see before. There were aspects that were important to different people that I didn't catch in the 6 months that I've been reading this script.
I love it for that. I love that the stories and characters and plot and nuances have worked their way into the deepest corners of the fabric of my thoughts, and they show through to the surface at the strangest times. I love that the actors and the crew have brought it to life in many ways--moo, nurture, racquetball, Antonia, basketball, enduring, endearing--and made all these abstract concepts work on some level. They've helped to make them make sense, and they've allowed these ideas to become concrete realities within the confines of the people that embody them.
And if you didn't see the show, and this entry makes no sense to you... well, 1) shame on you! You should have come to see it! and... 2) sorry, but I don't want to forget these conversations, and this is as good a place as any to go with it.
And with that, good night.
infinite || abyss
posted at 1:36 a.m.
