Thursday, January 28, 2010
New theater work is inspired by Internet chat groups for the suicidal
washingtonpost.com: "If you Google the phrase 'suicide group,' naturally you'll come up with page after page of support groups and hotlines. But somewhere in those pages, deep in the recesses of the Internet, are the people whose version of help is a little bit different."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
Stories examining human action are the best type to me. They are character studies of paradoxes we are to fraid to realize, cause and create. This is just that. A paradox explored through stage, dance and music. It is actual words people have written and this type of theater not only educates but informs as all good theater should. How does one reply to what type of gun to use? As an audience I like to be questioned, and challenged. Not only because it makes me react and pulls me in but it shows me something I never knew before. This show does just that. I researched some of these sites and they are scarey to read. This is a link to one below.
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/HowTo:Commit_Suicide
I mean this is apart of the wikipedia organization. How can a company rather provide information as awful as this- even if it is in a joking evil way- and still almost support it in a way?
This article is very moving, in a very deep emotional way. I wasnt sure how you could make theatre from a topic like this without making it angsty and emo. But the way that their passion for this is described, and how it makes so much sense to emulate this in dance because it is so hard to express these feelings in words. This is not the first time that I have heard that these sites exist, but Im still not sure how I feel about them. In a way I think that it is good that there is somewhere for people who are suicidal to go and at least ahve people understand and not judge and just listen and accept. But on the other I personally could never fathom committing suicide, so even though I feel like on some level thses sites shouldnt advocate killing yourself, Ive never been to that point in my life where that was an a consideration so how can I say anything on the topic? I think that it is great what Kyd is doing and I hope it does well, and maybe help some people out there who feel this alone, and maybe can realize that they arent
First of all, a comment to Bryce - Uncyclopedia is not run by Wikipedia, it is essentially a spoof site that panders to internet trolls and tongue-in-cheek, often terribly inappropriate humor.
But to suicide.chat.room, it is a mix of fantastic captivation and guilty voyeurism to know that these people put their most intimate thoughts and feelings out in public. I'm a frequenter of several chatrooms, and the anonymity of things allows you to say what you would never say to another person face to face. I absolutely agree with the Kyd's choice to make she show mostly movement and dance, because the body can communicate emotion so much more than the voice ever can, but I take issue with making the majority of the show punk music. If anything, my experiences have shown me that the ones who are closest to this state of mind are much more passive and depressed than wild and rebellious. They're not the punk rockers, they're the ones sitting at home, listening to acoustic piano and guitar and just looking for companions who will listen to them and understand them. The soundtrack doesn't quite fit the melancholy of the subject.
I feel that the ethics of this production need to really be examined. While responsibility of this sort is not necessary for theater, I feel that this might be pushing it too far, particularly for the point that it uses actual statements from these chat rooms. Taking the pain of real people and turning it into art is arguably wrong. I think the subject matter is very powerful, but just the fact of the absolute reality behind it bothers me. On the other hand, if this raises awareness, it might do some good. I think the fact that it will inevitably make an uncomfortable audience is interesting, because it reinforces our humanity.
I don't know how to feel about this show. On one hand it seems so crazy to take the text from the suicide site to use as the dialogue in a play, especially not knowing if that member has committed suicide or not. On the other hand I don't know about it being a dance based piece. I can't decide if it helps remove the audience some or challenge them more.
Also, It blows my mind that there are groups out there that do this in the first place. I have never really thought of suicide as a group activity or to form a pact to commit suicide. If you trust wikipedia, here is there link to suicide pacts which gives additional links to other suicide related topics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_pact
Okay, since I was just asked and I need to clarify, I find enough angst in regular chatrooms - I don't go to suicide chatrooms. Thank you for the concern, though. :)
On the contrary, I think that taking the comments of real people and using them to create this is not wrong. I think that it enhances the subject matter, because it truly is what is running through the heads of people who are considering suicide as an option. I also agree with Bryce. A show that is slightly controversial and challenging is that much more interesting.
I think Kyd has the right idea with taking the actual writings of these people. Unless you have experienced the desire to kill yourself, I don't think you would create a piece that would have the same kind of weight that this will have. What you would be putting on stage would be a lie, and i think the audience would be able to tell, therefore nulling your intentions for doing the piece in the first place.
I also have to agree with Brian. Using Punk music almost does what made up text would do, make it a lie. Silence is also a very powerful option as well. There reaches a point where a soundtrack doesn't exist, and that's almost scarier, it's just you and your thoughts, nothing else. At that point you are truly alone.
I'm not sure how I feel about this. I understand that Kyd is fascinated by this kind of "paradoxical" human existence, but producing this dance concert almost seems like it's glorifying a culture of people who support each other in the desire to end their lives. What about the families of people who are involved in such chat rooms? I'm sure they're not going to spend much time musing on the complexities of human behavior. I don't know if I could comfortably watch this production knowing that it was based on a very real group of people.
I'm not sure if I'm intrigued or disturbed by this. While I do believe that it's good to raise awareness about this issue, and that people do face this, I don't know if making the existence of these groups, and providing knowledge to the audience on the many ways to kill themselves is necessarily a good thing to do. On the other hand, this kind of show is also fascinating because it examines some of the darker parts of lives that an increasing among of people lead. I honestly just don't know what I think about this, but either way, it still seems like a worthwhile production.
Post a Comment