CMU School of Drama


Tuesday, September 30, 2008

‘To Be Straight With You’ Explores Religion and Homosexuality

NYTimes.com: "Lloyd Newson first became recognized as a choreographer who boldly blurs the boundaries between dance and theater when his British company, DV8 Physical Theater, arrived on the scene in 1986. His intensely physical, sometimes violent pieces deal frankly with complex issues like sexuality, masculinity and alienation. In “Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men” from 1988, for example, he explored a serial killer’s psyche through intense, repetitive movements that were physically daring, even dangerous: falling, climbing, dancers’ throwing one another around."

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is amazing. I think to be apart of something so pure and interesting would give m e such an amazing feeling. for 1 of those 200 members of that gay muslim show to participate is so contradictory to what they want to say. I am a little distrat byt he fact that in our society today this is still such a major issue.. a bit sad really. All in all, I think the major things he is trying to focus on, movement and disability and styling of movements just sounds like something so brillant to see. I am a firm believer in the struggles of the mind and exspecially disabilities.. so this seems like something that really interesting to me.. I am excited to see how this show goes and tghe messages that it begins to send out.

Katherine! said...

This is great. I really think that it is an amazing idea to get the ideals of homosexuality out there and in the main stream media. I think that this is a great way to get the message out there and try to break the barriers of homosexuality. Hopefully this allows for more homosexuals to open up and not be afraid for their safety.

Anonymous said...

It's very important for art like this to be created and presented to a large audience so that people are aware of the struggles of homosexuals across the world. Since we're in an environment where homosexuality isn't an issue, and we're exposed to popular culture that is increasingly inclusive of the gay community, it's sometimes easy to forget that on a large scale homosexuals are not widely accepted.

Anonymous said...

It is extremely depressing to know that despite all outward appearances, the homosexual community still lives in fear. I think dance and theatre performance is a great format in which to discuss the underlying issues of hatred that still exist. The fact that the performers are there, that the whole thing is live along with the "script" that is created of actual people's stories told by those people, makes the entire experience moving. I love theatre companies that still remain true to the belief that theatre can change the world and I hope this show among with many many more can slowly change the world so that homosexuals can live as people and not as victims.

Anonymous said...

If these dance routines are half as fun to watch as my imagination makes them seem, I really need to get a chance to see one of these guy's works. While I'm not a huge dance fan, the idea that this guy has found a way to blur the line between dance and performance really intrigues me since I tend to find most dance performances, well, boring. They're elegant, graceful, and repeditive in ways that just don't hold my interest in ways that keep me engaged long enough to really watch a perfomrance. I like the idea of using dance to express a mental state rather then a story, it just seems to fit better in my perspective.