The New York Times: This summer, fans of immersive theater have ventured onto a rooftop to welcome the Phantom of the Opera back to Midtown Manhattan and clambered through “Viola’s Room” while hearing Helena Bonham Carter whisper a gothic mystery into their headphones.
2 comments:
I’ve heard of one performer shows before but I’ve never heard of one that counted the audience members (or in this case member) as that one performer. According to the Greeks one of the most important aspects of theatre is catharsis. You’re supposed to put yourself into the feet of a character on stage and in a sense feel what they feel. But in this case the connection is far more literal. If you’re watching a character on the stage talk to the tree about nature it’s easy to feel as if that character doesn’t fit you and you aren’t part of the destruction of nature. By making the audience physically read the lines this show helps bring people to the realization that every action we take in the modern world contributes to the destruction of nature and as such caring for the environment is the duty of everyone. Although this idea is creative and helps convey the idea of the play better than traditional theatre I doubt that such an idea will become very widespread.
Love the acknowledgement that “this piece probably isn’t for everyone.” Because that was my first thought on reading the title and description of the “performance.” I’m someone who gets easily torn between “this is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of” and “wow this is a seriously moving piece of art” when it comes to any kind of experimental experience, and I’m tempted to put Arborlogues at the “dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of” camp. But I suppose that this just means that the piece of art isn’t for me. Which leads me to wonder about the people who are really supposed to hear about this (perhaps the people who hate nature and don’t care about trees). I imagine that those people would definitely not appreciate this piece of art. Hence, is the meaning of this art lost if the people it is targeting don’t pay attention to it? Or is it worth creating to impact anyone no matter if they already believe in what the piece of art is saying? I think yes.
Post a Comment