Sunday, October 28, 2007
'Donnie' goes darkly to stage
Variety: "Can an enigmatic cult film about a troubled teen, a six-foot rabbit named Frank and the end of the world find new life -- and maybe new auds -- on stage?"
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14 comments:
I don't really know about this. So much of the impact of Donnie Darko is through the surrealism that only film can really lend. I just can't see a stage adaption doing it justice. It's one of those stories that needs its medium to be effective and jarring. Besides, on the movie, Frank is terrifying, and I really can't imagine being scared of a 6-foot man in a bunny costume on stage.
I think that the surrealism in Donnie Darko is a little too much for the stage, but I do appreciate the fact that they are trying to attract a teenage audience. The article mentions the significance of a jet engine crashing into a home setting off a bunch of other events. Something tells me that it just isn't as effective on stage. I really want to see how they portrayed the weird "intent" effect.
I think that this preoccupation with the search for a younger audience is funny. I find it silly that getting young people to theaters is like pulling teeth, and I don't think we should need things targeted at younger audiences to do this. Maybe its a problem with the way most adults view theatre or arts in education, but I find myself cringing everytime theatre for the teenage set is mentioned.
Additionally, I think if they stopped focusing so much on the demographic grapping aspect, these ventures could actually be good.
I think that this is a piece that could be adapted to the stage with the idea that it is surrealist. It could be done in a similar vein as A Dream Play or Marisol . The story of the play could be fueled forward with the surrealism.
If nothing else, fans of the movie would go out in droves to see it. In a way that the Rocky Horror fans all want to go see their show.
I feel like this is going to have a tough time in theaters but at the same time I don't think I could lay any judgment to it whatsoever. It seems like some of that "surrealism" is something that maybe will be brought about differently on stage but in an intimate space could be just as powerful.
The surrealism in Donnie Darko the movie is probably something that can only be achieved with film. It would be interesting though to see how they interpret that surrealism and translate it to the stage. There are a lot of theatrical conventions that can are very emotionally affective that film can not achieve.
I have never seen the movie, but I have definitely heard a lot about it. the only issue to me is the "more than 70 sometimes-overlapping scenes." that is quite a lot of scenes in 110 minutes. I think with the level of surrealism that would have to be reached this show could either go really well or really poorly. I'm inspired to see at least the movie now at least though.
Honestly - I'm not really sure this could work on the stage. I just feel that is was far too good an too successful in its original form, that this could only be sub-par. It is great that they're getting a different and alternative audience to view theatre - but I just really can't see Donnie Darko as a successful theatre show.
this seems to me like the 'making a video game based on a movie' problem that i often have. there's countless examples of such copycat cross-media productions and i'd have to say that about 90% of the time they fail horribly. Usually the content gets mangled by some new artistic staff, the production team has to cut things to fit increasingly smaller budgets, and the profit return is minimal at best once it's out to the public.
it will certainly be interesting to see if this succeeds or not. i would have to agree that if you are aiming for a younger (pop-cultured) kind of audience then "Bah-Stin" is the place to try this. While it does seem like a difficult film to bring to the stage, i don't think it is completely out of the realm of possiblity. I am curious to see how they attempt to pull off some of the special effects that are essential to the story.
I'm gonna have to agree with Chapel, having seen the last half of the movie, I'm not sure that this is really feasible on stage...especially one that small. I mean, what are they going to attempt next? Recreate a Michael Bay film on stage? I just feel that this really exceeds the limits of stage effects at the moment...at least if you want to hold true to the story.
Wow that is interesting and I kind of want to see it. Donnie Darko has a young and strong following, sort of like the modern day Rocky Horror and putting on a stage production is sure to draw a large number of that hard core fan base. It would also be interesting to see how they adapted the movie into a theatrical context and see how they accomplished many of the special effects that are much easier on film. Road trip anyone?
There is a brilliance in the way in which that movie was filmed. Certain things, such as his trip in the car with his dad, were filmed so differently, and make the film fantastically different. There is a lot of thoughtful cinematography in that movie that obviously can't translate to the theater. Hopefully they'll find other ways around it. I like that the theater is so intimate though. It will certainly be a trip.
Hmm.....I don't know about this. I quite enjoyed the film, not a cult fan however, and I can't seem to be able to figure out how the film will translate correctly to the stage. I agree with chapel that I don't think frank will be very scary, in fact I think I might find him funny. If they can make it work then more power to them.
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