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Aug. 16th, 2008 02:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hoosierbitchThoughts on Iphigenia Crash Land Falls on the Neon Shell that was Once Her Heart by Caridad Svich.
Overall the play seemed like something that should have been written in the 80's, with ripped glitter all over everyone tripping drugs and speaking in each other's tongues. AIDS and The Disappeared, the rise of the newscaster, the intense integration of video (in the sort of way that we overuse things as we come to terms with them). I liked the use of stills best, or if it slightly contrasted what they were doing onstage--adding another layer. Not so much when it was the newscaster or MC. It was like the best parts of A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints when it contrasted happening with introspection and intention.
The chorus of dead prostitutes was an interesting idea, especially considering Svich's stipulation that they be played by men. They're tarted up prostitutes with grisly scars on their neck from where they were murdered. They bitch, tear of Iphigenia's clothing, mock her innocence, the dregs of a gutter society. They're jaded, and they have not much new to say about their world. Their form is also a bit cliche w/ the thrown in unison.
Her language was (dare I attempt it...) post-modern. Speak in explosions. Iphigenia chronicling her own fall from grace, telling us her inner feelings and state of mind--how often in this play does she merely stand and talk about herself? Even with Achilles, in the midst of their drug-addled romance, they seem to be carrying on separate conversations in the same abstract fashion. The dialogue was all very interesting, but I couldn't match it to action/mvmt/progression.
Nice circular structure with her realization that she's dead, it's all a nightmare afterworld. Alfonso needed her to die to cement his reelection (Bush needed 9/11).
Overall the play seemed like something that should have been written in the 80's, with ripped glitter all over everyone tripping drugs and speaking in each other's tongues. AIDS and The Disappeared, the rise of the newscaster, the intense integration of video (in the sort of way that we overuse things as we come to terms with them). I liked the use of stills best, or if it slightly contrasted what they were doing onstage--adding another layer. Not so much when it was the newscaster or MC. It was like the best parts of A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints when it contrasted happening with introspection and intention.
The chorus of dead prostitutes was an interesting idea, especially considering Svich's stipulation that they be played by men. They're tarted up prostitutes with grisly scars on their neck from where they were murdered. They bitch, tear of Iphigenia's clothing, mock her innocence, the dregs of a gutter society. They're jaded, and they have not much new to say about their world. Their form is also a bit cliche w/ the thrown in unison.
Her language was (dare I attempt it...) post-modern. Speak in explosions. Iphigenia chronicling her own fall from grace, telling us her inner feelings and state of mind--how often in this play does she merely stand and talk about herself? Even with Achilles, in the midst of their drug-addled romance, they seem to be carrying on separate conversations in the same abstract fashion. The dialogue was all very interesting, but I couldn't match it to action/mvmt/progression.
Nice circular structure with her realization that she's dead, it's all a nightmare afterworld. Alfonso needed her to die to cement his reelection (Bush needed 9/11).
