The New York Times: Onstage at the Harold Pinter Theater, the actress Romola Garai was portraying a young Frenchwoman trying to give herself an abortion with a knitting needle. The scene was set in 1964, a time when medical abortions were illegal in France, and Garai’s character wasn’t ready for motherhood.
4 comments:
Wow, The Years may be one of the most intense productions I have ever heard about. Abortion is definitely something that should be depicted in this show, since it is such a powerful scene and portrays the real life experiences of so many women, even though abortion has traditionally been somewhat of a taboo and not shown in detail in a production.
I think it's curious that the immediate fear was that the people who would faint during the performance were women who had gotten abortions before and were traumatized. I felt that it makes more sense for men to faint during such a scene, due to the fact that they have not experienced an abortion personally.
Overall, I'm impressed by the mental strength, fortitude, and determination of the actors to put on this difficult and impressive performance. The Years is something that I would go to see, and I think some of my family may be interested as well, but a few of them would definitely end up fainting during the performance. It may be better to just send them this article instead, and save a trip to the hospital.
I feel like people passing out during a show is both a blessing and a curse, the production team knows that they have done such a good job that the show is causing such strong emotional reactions, but on the other hand the amount of people passing out or feeling weak could derail a show in order to allow for propper medical treatment. I think that scaling back the scene would be beneficial as to not cause so many audience members to pass out. If the scene was able to be watched with less interruptions it might be better for the show overall, leading to an unbroken viewing experience. It is important that we continue to tell stories like this even with the need to potentially tone down the intense scenes. I wonder how this show would be received by an american audience. Would there be just as much fainting, would the show even be allowed to have a run in America’s current political climate?
Oh to be able to make that kind of an impact on audiences. Our business is rooting in connecting with people, or sometimes highlighting the lack thereof. To make multiple audience members have a visceral physical reaction to a piece, based on the intensity of the storytelling is a feat. If only we could create that kind of connection with lawmakers, particularly those who have taken abortion rights away. Maybe the best we can do is connect with enough people that they in turn reach out to their communities and elected officials, starting from the ground up. This brings us back to our eternal question: can theater change the world. Because of stories like these I think yes. It’s just a matter of finding the stories that need to be produced and the resources to do so. Part of that is getting these shows out to audiences, which may prove increasingly difficult under the current administration. Where does performance art for social change play into this?
I have a lot of feelings about this. I am really really passionate about finding a better way to create change with the arts and I do not think this is the way to do it. I think the topic is important and needs to be talked about but I do not think doing it graphically and aggressively is safe or impactful. I get the argument that this is the impact we need but I do not think it is going to create change because those who do not agree with pro choice beliefs are not going to attend this show. And if they do they are going to use the intensity against it. I also think that it has a lot of safety issues. Are you really taking care of your audience if this is happening? Or is the goal not to take care of the audience and simply make a point. I personally would not be able to see this show despite really caring about the story it is trying to tell. I think it is limiting its reach by presenting it in this way.
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