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Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Cincy Shakespeare's sinister production of '1984' will leave you shaken but thoughtful
Even before we enter the theater for Cincinnati Shakespeare Company's production of "1984."
4 comments:
Davine Byon
said...
I saw the Broadway production of 1984 and definitely witnessed much of the audience give up on the gory scenes, walking— or running— out of the theatre to escape the graphic depictions of torture. I am always an advocate for the uncomfortable and unsettling in theater, and even I had to keep my eyes shut at certain moments. Based on the description of how the projections will factor in, it seems that the Cincinnati Shakespeare’s version of 1984 will be dark on a more psychological and less explicit level. My favorite aspect of the Broadway version was when the house lights came up and live cameras captured not only actors, but audience members and projected them up on the back wall of the set. The projections in this Cincinnati vision similarly aim to involve the audience, but in a very different way. I think part of why Broadway’s 1984 was so chilling was because the audience felt partially responsible as passive bystanders to horrendous torture. Cincinnati’s 1984 seems to place the audience member in the atmosphere directly to trigger empathy and potentially a call to action through fear.
This sounds like a great approach to "1984". I never saw the new Broadway production, but I certainly heard about it. I am glad this particular production is going to be less gory and vomit-inducing among the audience members. That said, I've got some weird and intense phobias and would probably have about as visceral reaction to a bunch of river fish being projected on screen as I would to gory torture scenes in front of me on stage. I hope that the use of projections will keep the audience removed far enough from the action that they can think about how the lessons of "1984" are important today, but still involve them enough to trigger their empathy. I believe in keeping the audience involved, but would prefer for them not to be traumatized as many were in the Broadway run. I hope that Phillips is able to convey is message that "truth matters" without immersive projections overshadowing that.
I didn’t have the chance to see the Broadway production of “1984”, but I have been a fan of the book for a while. The ominous dystopian society can seem so far-fetched from our current one, yet as technology advances, it seems more possible. The fact that this show has thorough trigger warnings and is restricted to individuals under the age of 14, shows how intense the production truly is. Yet I believe this to be valid because of the nature of the story, and the necessity of sending a message. The scene of Winston being placed in a cage of rats is disturbing just to read about, so I can imagine the discomfort of viewing it. The audience is intended to take a lot away from this production, and to leave them thinking even after they have left the building. Cincinnati Shakespeare specifically chose this production because they believe it is relevant today, as individuals are always seeking “the truth.”
Seeing this article made me so happy! Being a Cincinnati native and having worked with some of the Cincy Shakes actors at other theaters, I am very excited and hopefully will be able to see this when I go home next weekend. I have not seen the Broadway production, but I am intrigued to see the large amounts of media in this production. The article talks about Blink, which was a huge light show that projected different images, illusions, and videos on buildings around downtown Cincinnati in fall 2017. I was astounded walking around and looking at these projections, I can’t even imagine what this production will be in the gorgeous new space the Cincy Shakes just got. Using the entire space to pull the audience into the story with the transparent film on the windows is a brilliant idea and also relates back to many other articles I have responded to. The use of media in theatre is growing more and more with every production and seeing that this is one of the outcomes makes me very excited to see where they will take it in the future.
4 comments:
I saw the Broadway production of 1984 and definitely witnessed much of the audience give up on the gory scenes, walking— or running— out of the theatre to escape the graphic depictions of torture. I am always an advocate for the uncomfortable and unsettling in theater, and even I had to keep my eyes shut at certain moments. Based on the description of how the projections will factor in, it seems that the Cincinnati Shakespeare’s version of 1984 will be dark on a more psychological and less explicit level. My favorite aspect of the Broadway version was when the house lights came up and live cameras captured not only actors, but audience members and projected them up on the back wall of the set. The projections in this Cincinnati vision similarly aim to involve the audience, but in a very different way. I think part of why Broadway’s 1984 was so chilling was because the audience felt partially responsible as passive bystanders to horrendous torture. Cincinnati’s 1984 seems to place the audience member in the atmosphere directly to trigger empathy and potentially a call to action through fear.
This sounds like a great approach to "1984". I never saw the new Broadway production, but I certainly heard about it. I am glad this particular production is going to be less gory and vomit-inducing among the audience members. That said, I've got some weird and intense phobias and would probably have about as visceral reaction to a bunch of river fish being projected on screen as I would to gory torture scenes in front of me on stage. I hope that the use of projections will keep the audience removed far enough from the action that they can think about how the lessons of "1984" are important today, but still involve them enough to trigger their empathy. I believe in keeping the audience involved, but would prefer for them not to be traumatized as many were in the Broadway run. I hope that Phillips is able to convey is message that "truth matters" without immersive projections overshadowing that.
I didn’t have the chance to see the Broadway production of “1984”, but I have been a fan of the book for a while. The ominous dystopian society can seem so far-fetched from our current one, yet as technology advances, it seems more possible. The fact that this show has thorough trigger warnings and is restricted to individuals under the age of 14, shows how intense the production truly is. Yet I believe this to be valid because of the nature of the story, and the necessity of sending a message. The scene of Winston being placed in a cage of rats is disturbing just to read about, so I can imagine the discomfort of viewing it. The audience is intended to take a lot away from this production, and to leave them thinking even after they have left the building. Cincinnati Shakespeare specifically chose this production because they believe it is relevant today, as individuals are always seeking “the truth.”
Seeing this article made me so happy! Being a Cincinnati native and having worked with some of the Cincy Shakes actors at other theaters, I am very excited and hopefully will be able to see this when I go home next weekend. I have not seen the Broadway production, but I am intrigued to see the large amounts of media in this production. The article talks about Blink, which was a huge light show that projected different images, illusions, and videos on buildings around downtown Cincinnati in fall 2017. I was astounded walking around and looking at these projections, I can’t even imagine what this production will be in the gorgeous new space the Cincy Shakes just got. Using the entire space to pull the audience into the story with the transparent film on the windows is a brilliant idea and also relates back to many other articles I have responded to. The use of media in theatre is growing more and more with every production and seeing that this is one of the outcomes makes me very excited to see where they will take it in the future.
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