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Thursday, April 27, 2006
Scholars Discover 23 Blank Pages That May As Well Be Lost Samuel Beckett Play
the play "Breath", that is mentioned in this article is actually fairly close to this spoof. Beckett wrote "Breath" as a single page of stage directions. In 1999 it was performed in London double-billed with another Beckett play. It's amazing.
The audience hears a cry in the darkness, and then an inhale. As the inhale grows, light slowly fades up to reveal a stage full of junk piled high. Immediately, an exhale begins and the light fades out. With another quick cry, the play is over.
The audience reaction to this work is astounding. It ranged from inspired awe to outrage. This really tests the notion that the audience defines the art. Such a varied but passionate range of reaction to a theatrical work is something many of us could only dream of.
Ohhh Beckett. I think of minimalist theater as I do those artists who draw a single line, wait four days, draw another line and then sell it for millions. I had a friend that used to do that and his parents would frame it, calling him genius. Is a bucket full of paint, a spoon, and a dead squirrel really enough to do a play? Is one sound bite and naked man enough to do a play? Is it performance? There is something inherently theaterical about something being done in a theater space with an audience in the first place. Someone, I am sure, can make a case for this. But for me, I'd probably laugh and walk out. I wouldn't necessarily ask for my money back, however. They need it. Art is art.
2 comments:
ha! amazing. leave it to the onion....
the play "Breath", that is mentioned in this article is actually fairly close to this spoof. Beckett wrote "Breath" as a single page of stage directions. In 1999 it was performed in London double-billed with another Beckett play. It's amazing.
The audience hears a cry in the darkness, and then an inhale. As the inhale grows, light slowly fades up to reveal a stage full of junk piled high. Immediately, an exhale begins and the light fades out. With another quick cry, the play is over.
The audience reaction to this work is astounding. It ranged from inspired awe to outrage. This really tests the notion that the audience defines the art. Such a varied but passionate range of reaction to a theatrical work is something many of us could only dream of.
Ohhh Beckett. I think of minimalist theater as I do those artists who draw a single line, wait four days, draw another line and then sell it for millions. I had a friend that used to do that and his parents would frame it, calling him genius. Is a bucket full of paint, a spoon, and a dead squirrel really enough to do a play? Is one sound bite and naked man enough to do a play? Is it performance? There is something inherently theaterical about something being done in a theater space with an audience in the first place. Someone, I am sure, can make a case for this. But for me, I'd probably laugh and walk out. I wouldn't necessarily ask for my money back, however. They need it. Art is art.
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