2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
'The Blind' rejects realism, explores fluidity of language
Mariela Quintana
Issue date: 4/16/07 Section: Arts & Culture
Innovation and originality abounded at the Sock and Buskin-produced performance of Maurice Maeterlinck's "The Blind." Director Rebecca Schneider, associate professor of theater, speech and dance, and her skilled group of actors certainly maintained Maeterlinck's original artistic intentions that rejected realism and the boundaries of time and place - rather, both Maeterlinck and the production explore the subconscious and its mystical spirituality.
Rather than as individual characters, the assembly of actors worked seamlessly together as an embodiment of fears and questions. Subverting logical dialogue, the actors repeatedly posed questions that at first appeared rudimentary, such as "Where are we?" and "How much longer?" Through continuous reiteration, these questions shed light on the religious and other worldly undertones that nuance the play.
Despite its lack of substantial characterization and progression of plot, Saturday night's performance of "The Blind" attained a strong sense of dramatic structure and direction from the numerous dichotomies that re-occurred throughout the play. Schneider's directorial choices highlighted the universal clashes between silence and noise, light and dark, movement and inertia, knowledge and ignorance and comfort and anxiety, all of which are inherent in the dialogue of Maeterlinck's original script.
The play opens on a stage strewn with scrap paper. The blind, a group of six figures - all in black, eyes shaded by oversized sunglasses - sprawl on a bench center-stage. Behind them, two projection screens hang, displaying a montage of flashing text. Stage right, a giant plastic container holds the decaying remains of a priest's corpse, like an airtight Tupperware container attempting to preserve his leftovers. On both sides above the stage, three figures in orange prison jump suits stand erect. The contrasting array of colors and textures is overwhelming to the senses, yet the introductory moments of silence drag on portentously and create a clear sense of waiting and expectation.
Rather than as individual characters, the assembly of actors worked seamlessly together as an embodiment of fears and questions. Subverting logical dialogue, the actors repeatedly posed questions that at first appeared rudimentary, such as "Where are we?" and "How much longer?" Through continuous reiteration, these questions shed light on the religious and other worldly undertones that nuance the play.
Despite its lack of substantial characterization and progression of plot, Saturday night's performance of "The Blind" attained a strong sense of dramatic structure and direction from the numerous dichotomies that re-occurred throughout the play. Schneider's directorial choices highlighted the universal clashes between silence and noise, light and dark, movement and inertia, knowledge and ignorance and comfort and anxiety, all of which are inherent in the dialogue of Maeterlinck's original script.
The play opens on a stage strewn with scrap paper. The blind, a group of six figures - all in black, eyes shaded by oversized sunglasses - sprawl on a bench center-stage. Behind them, two projection screens hang, displaying a montage of flashing text. Stage right, a giant plastic container holds the decaying remains of a priest's corpse, like an airtight Tupperware container attempting to preserve his leftovers. On both sides above the stage, three figures in orange prison jump suits stand erect. The contrasting array of colors and textures is overwhelming to the senses, yet the introductory moments of silence drag on portentously and create a clear sense of waiting and expectation.