‘I just didn’t get any of that’, ‘But what did it all mean’, ‘What was that all about’ mutters the audience as they stumble out of the smoke. In an absurd play where logic and rationality have broken down there will always be a sense of profound disengagement. It is all too easy for the critic to cry ‘I didn’t understand it, it was brash and incoherent’.
But why do we need meaning? Why is it so hard just to let the action play out without having a clear beginning or end?
To attempt to make any sense of a play like Throats you have to leave any expectation of plot, narrative, structure or rational meaning at the door and then see what jumps out at you. Each of our seven characters lacks a coherent linear background, so we don’t have the opportunity to prejudge their dialogue or actions. Yet through the course of the play they do each inhabit their own skin and create a sense of an individual in this chaotic blood soaked world.
Beyond the characters there are some themes, lots of blood, lots of drinking, a car crash, an explosion, an encounter with a blind boy and it seems that Benidorm holds some significance.
I however found it hard to grasp much more than threads. There seemed to be a commentary on terrorism and 9/11 but it is all a bit vague. A constant nagging at the back of my mind made me feel that perhaps I was missing quite a lot, maybe had I seen more absurdist plays or been a drama student or not been so ignorant I may have understood more. Or perhaps in truth it was all too disjointed to leave the viewer with anything other than the feeling of an evening separated from reality.
I am quite happy to never know.
Throats is at the Pleasance Theatre, Islington 18th February to 27th March 2011
Find out more about Gerald Thomas here – http://geraldthomasblog.wordpress.com/
Thank you Kim. I haven’t been doing this kind of stuff for over three decades because I’m an obsessive compulsive (though, to tell you the truth, I am). The very idea of it all, you described pretty damn well. Disjointed. Yes. Taken apart. Almost like the Twin Towers were on that terrible day.
I mean: one has to presuppose that – if someone can put all that stuff together, he can also take it apart. Yes? And that’s precisely my point. And that’s how we tend to read between the lines of the so called reality.
I am very happy that you’re happy never knowing.
Isolde knew when she sang Liebestod. She was SURE that there was another life immediately after this one and that she’d meet her Tristan right there.
All I know is that there is death.
Oh yes, there’s death.
Tnanks.
LOVE
Gerald Thomas
I was frustrated by the critics and the audience ‘needing to know’ what it all meant which got me to wondering why we search for such an easy response without even thinking to explore a bit deeper.
(oh and btw I’m not Kim Robinson – I just review his books is all!)
Art, message. Reminds me that quote: “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”. Too bad I can’t travel now. Ironic isn’t it?
But I still think that the message will only reach it’s goal.
Very interesting post!
Do you speak portuguese?
Abraços do Lúcio Jr
Post scriptum: you can understand his plays with reason rather feel them and explaining all with metaphors and dreams –or nightmares.
All the nightmares came today
And they´re here to stay
Hi, Kim Robinson!!! I´ve been a long admire of
Mr.Thomas´s plays and operas since the
beginning of 80´s in SP and Rio, Brasil.
At that time , i dated a specialist playwright in
Kafka and existencialism of my university Puc-
SP.Once we got contact with THE
TRADITION of the OPEN-MASTER PIECE or
“OBRA ABERTA” by a TRIO of POETS and
WRITERS “CONCRETISTS”, here, a famous one
HAROLD DE CAMPOS, and we learnt SEMIOTICS ,
science of sensitive synthesis AMPLE , well-
crossreferenced view of an object – abstract and
concrete- and he got REACTIVE to all.
Hardly could I talk
about this new view. I had almost to enter a plea
so as I could follow this NEW route of observing
the WORLD.Only could I feel in this ALL NEW
position of VISION when I took ‘the blow at the
stomach’ …and decided to design a course only
to teach this new view .
AN “OPEN SIGNED PIECE or MONTAGE” in
theatre has its best debut and genuine workout
with actually only MR. THOMAS. He dared how
to get thru its mesh and REVEAL this maybe
unknown NEW OPEN STRUCTURE WORLD(
though in England when CONCRETISM was
founded, there were Kinetics POETs, like Ezra
Pound and Mallarmé).
Here, the stage is not a
PLAIN PLAN FLOOR HORIZONTAL anymore. IT is
A “SIGN”, THE MEMORY of THE AUTHOR-ACTOR”
and his relation with his expectators,
audiences.So, for this, he takes off all
TRADITIONAL REFERENCE of the stage where
you would see a casting in a setting or place
with a profiled character making sense with each
other two-way communication .
Mr. Thomas wants to break the LOGICAL NORMAL LINEAR
expectation mechanism of US cause HE wants to
show that in the REALITY , the WORLD and
situations are simultaneous but ruled by the
CHANCE-RELATIVISTIC LAWS -PLANCK
UNCERTAINTY of variant loops of events in the
TRANSITORY TIMES of our MASS MEDIA
SOCIETIES.
A CREATION is a “PIECE OF ARTS AT
RANDOM” And though in our personal world , we
have measures, and RATIONALIZES all as
CARTESIANS.In fact, LIFE is eliptical
mobilization every instant and pulsations.SO,
the actors are MASQUES -DUMMIES . Mr.
THOMAS does not allow himself to get into the
TRAP of building an ILLUSION in your MIND.
Not even that HIS PLAY will be the salvation of your day as a COMMENSAL well-accomplished cult in-take.This eating-feeling is for your personal reality out of that public social theatre possible casual contacts and approaches , a cult-product play may get in on you every time you go for mit in a theatre. As expectators in relation to a PLAY , you think act thru your MASQUE of ALTEREGO , or PERSONNA ( which implies some surprises and ‘impact confronts ‘good or not with others and signals outside around you).
Sorry about calling you Kim.
I visited your site again and couldn’t find your name.
You know mine
and I just received a very complicated form from WordPress.com
regarding subscription to your blog. Impossible to understand (like Throats)
LOVE your writing, regardless of your review and comment.
My name is GT and my email is dryoperacompany@gmail.com
If you want to get in touch, please feel free.
I’m adding your blog to mine as a link.
and will publish your article in the next few days, after the ad has had its life and teased enough by just about everyone, including myself.
LOVE
G
Thanks for being in touch as this is all new to me it’s wonderful to know that I’m communicating with real people and not just a big blank virtual world. Hopefully have a new review up over the weekend. And I loved the ad!
Beccy
Hi Kim.
Your review’s spot on.
Points for Mr Thomas for the talented cast and the little help from John Paul Jones… unfortunately the same cannot be said for the production. Mr Paul Jones should be concerned with any promise of future collaborations. Risky.
Not a promising start in Britain after so much success in Brazil.
What happened?!
CD