I don't know about you, but I'm kind of fed up with realism. After all, there's enough reality already; why make more of it? Why not leave realism for the memoirs of drug addicts, the histories of salt, the biographies of porn stars? Why must we continue to read about the travails of divorced people or mildly depressed Canadians when we could be contemplating the shopping habits of zombies, or the difficulties that ensue when living and dead people marry each other? We should be demanding more stories about faery handbags and pyjamas inscribed with the diaries of strange women. We should not rest until someone writes about a television show that features the Free People's World-Tree Library, with its elaborate waterfalls and Forbidden Books and Pirate-Magicians. We should be pining for a house haunted by rabbits. - Kelly Link
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Realism
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6 comments:
Mm.
I don't really know anything about realism.
I'm looking for old chestnut, truth.
That's what I think is missing from everything. Even the not-realism stuff - which I think is just as popular as realism.
Truth is not the final frontier.
I have been so stuck on a truth I have found that I forget there can be more than one truth. And that two truths can be in contradiction to one another.
The self-righteous bully often has in possession a very real species of truth.
How you activate a found truth within the world is the crux.
I just keep thinking Realism is hard. But then again, as Malachy has said before, it's difficult to create theater. So maybe I shouldn't be harping on realism so much. It's just that realism often becomes a limitation - especially for younger actors. They often take the safer choice claiming it is more "realistic."
When I'm teaching it's always interesting to take the students outside and have them watch the variety of behavior, range of movement and vocality that are available to us. To look at how people arrange themselves in space and the various tempos, rhythms etc that play out. Their scenes get instantly better because they get beyond the idea that "realism" implies a certain smallness and medium range of behavior.
So I guess I'm always on the look out for quotes that convey that sense of exasperation and possibility.
On another tangent: I saw True West a couple of weekends ago, not a bad production but a safe one. Could have used a fight choreographer.
One of the things that I like about the script is it's search/obsession with authenticity and then the horror/terror of realizing or owning up to what your situation is.
But I kept thinking about how difficult it is to pull this stuff off. How much the actor has to work to animate the space - to make the fake plants appear real, to imbue the cut-out kitchen, the stunt type-writer, etc with the ring of "truth" and he has to do that consistently, always applying more energy to maintain the effect. And you're right it's the same for non-realistic theater as well. But it seems harder with realism or maybe just more obvious. I don't know.
Care to give some examples of what you mean or what you're looking for?
And hey, Malachy, it's good to hear from you. Hope you and the family are doing well.
Nick:
"How you activate a found truth within the world is the crux."
Amen.
Sorry for the hiatus.
Truth is the only frontier.
But the frontier is multi-faceted.
And for me, actually, TRUE WEST is a great example of truth in writing, and, can be, when done right, a great place to see truth acted out on-stage.
Though I'd say most good writing - even when it involves "pyjamas inscribed with the diaries of strange women" - can have it. And can be acted out on stage.
If it's got it, I just don't care if it's done in a realistic style or an absurd style or in a crossword puzzle.
One of the most delightful things I found about the late, lamented (may it rest in peace) television series "Six Feet Under" was how suddenly we'd be thrown into a character's mind, when we would be privy to what they were thinking rather than what they were saying, and which, occasionally, included elaborate dance/musical numbers. Then you'd suddenly be jerked back into the surface perception of reality. (I know Ally McBeal did this too, but usually only for comic effect.) SFU's use of it gave a richer context to ordinary life and was as refreshing as the sharp dialogue and the fact that the characters swore and stayed looped half the time--speaking of reality. Then again, it was created by a playwright, and a good number of playwrights worked for the show.
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