Miracle Theatre Group
September 21, 2006; closes October 14, 2006
A guest post from Winston Goodbody:
Visually stunning expedition into Mayan jungle brings back artifacts of
ancient belief system, but spiritual relevance for moderns only partially
reconstructed. Lush compositions of color and sound rival and at times
overpower characters’ spoken story. Traditional Greek chorus of gods
provides continuity between acts in this straight ahead dramatic structure.
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5 comments:
I wish I had a name like Winston Goodbody. Everything sounds better coming from someone with a name like that. i don't know why. It just does.
enlightening, current, meditative, sparks great conversation, a theatrical appetizer for discourse about the developing cultural aesthetic of 21st century American theatre and its strong re-connection to ritual and dance. Youthful energy abundant, crude and rough around the edges, but at the same time raw and envirogating. Telling the new history. Needs work, but what world premiere doesn't. See it, then compare to other new work and talk about the direction of American playwriting - plot/action/story being overpowered by form, device, and theme? trend?
Just to quibble with Monsieur Goodbody: "Xibalba" does not have a "traditional Greek chorus" at all. The gods in this play do not merely comment upon and question the actions of the primary characters, but are active characters themselves. They enter the action, partly drive it, are the primary antagonist to the hero in at least the second act of the show.
just to quibble win monsieur anonymous: are the gods really antagonists in the 2nd act, or are they more like the deus ex machina that brings closure and completion to the spiritual quest ot the first act's protagonist? I mean, they weren't really acting in opposition to the goal of spiritual realization. In fact, you might say the antagonist in this play is "science" or "excessive rationalism," embodied by Stephanie's character (the nurse) in Act 1, and maybe even the son himself in Act 2. Maybe.
At any rate, I agree with you, they were primary players, not commentators.
Visually stunning to be sure. Excellent production design all around. We should all be so lucky to work with designers like these.
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