Dark Matter

Answering the first question about a production that made a choice not to represent something in naturalistic detail, a production of A RAISIN IN THE SUN that I participated in my last year of college comes to mind. I won't go into a whole synopsis of this show, but a huge part of the story is the fact that the head of their family, Big Walter, has passed away and they are all awaiting his insurance money. The other day in Meisner class, Stacey mentioned a "private audience." A private audience is the person who we are always performing for (trying to prove something to). She challenged us to ask ourselves that question in future work. Well, Big Walter is definitely a part of almost every character's private audience in RAISIN. The set for that show was very naturalistic with a working stove, kitchen sink, and a fridge that actually stayed cold. Big Walter is such a big part of that show, despite the fact that he never actually appears, so the production staff was torn as to how to represent him on stage. Would they hang a large picture, almost GLASS MENAGERIE-esque, and have him loom over everyone or just have a small picture that the family could refer to from time to time? Ultimately, they chose the latter and I believe it was much more effective because when the insurance check actually comes, Big Walter's wife, Lena, realizes it doesn't change anything. He's still gone and $10,000 doesn't change that. Every person in the family believed their future lied in that check, a check that their father basically worked himself to death trying to achieve. There was no need for a large picture of Big Walter. Big Walter was EVERYWHERE.

I don't quite know how to answer the second question about the representation of the Holocaust. On one hand, I believe the problem with a representation such as THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS is that it makes the horrific actions of The Holocaust dark matter. We don't really see what's going on in the camp. We only see how it's affecting a family and a little boy's relationship with his friend; however, I also think that approach is quite effective. You see how blind the father is to his contribution to wickedness, the mother's guilt but lack of action, and an innocence lost because of it. It made me think, "Am I that blind and socialized to horrible things that I do? Could it end up hurting those around me?"

I don't actually think there's an effective way to represent the Holocaust. Referring back to the 2 laws of representation, it always conveys more and conveys less simultaneously. If you choose to show how it affects a particular family, group, people, you neglect the others of those. I suppose  one could utilize hallucinations or exposition to show other views, but I still don't feel it would be a fair representation. Theatre doesn't show real life. We only show the juicy stuff, so we will never get an accurate depiction of events such as this one. Every piece will always leave the generation viewing it asking, "Why wasn't someone doing something about this?"