My Agony Over My Ecstasy of Mike Daisey's Play

This week’s topic was challenging for me because I honestly haven’t seen much in the way of verbatim or documentary theatre.  I have seen The Laramie Project, but it was years ago and I don’t remember it very well.  I’ve seen YouTube clips of Anna Deavere Smith’s work and when I have time, I’m going to watch Notes from the Field on HBO (maybe a Spring Break viewing).  The piece I remember the most is The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs at Actors Theatre of Phoenix back in 2012.  I had the pleasure of seeing one of my oldest and dearest friends (and the man who married my husband and I!) perform the role of Mike Daisey.  Afterward I posted this on FB.

I’m not usually one to gush over shows on FB.  But I was clearly affected by this production.  Not just because one of my friends was in in it- although he was amazing in the piece.  But because it worked on me.  I remember having a conversation with my stepdad later that night about how he needed to break the habit of buying new technology.  My stepdad is sort of like Mike Daisey is- or was.  Any time he had a piece of technology- be it a phone, a printer, something that could become outdated within the year, he always wanted the newest best thing.  I argued against this, said it was wasteful, said that workers were being treated very poorly, simply so that he could have his new toys.  And he seemed not to care.  And that’s weird, because he’s normally a humanitarian and kind to everybody.  But people are definitely addicted to their technology.  I didn’t realize how addicted I was to my phone I lost it five minutes ago and it felt like the world was ending until I found it.  Now, I’m frustrating that this piece of theatre that moved me.  That it inspired me to go Facebook and talk about and email people and share my feelings.  Only to find out years later that the story was fabricated.  It worked on my emotions, so Mike Daisey was successful in his attempt to stir me to action.  But at what cost?  As Soloski says, “the process of selecting, organizing, contextualizing, and clarifying, conducted with however much integrity and sensitivity to the source material, unfailingly alters that material.”  Which I couldn’t agree with more.  But if you are intentionally altering what you claim to be factual details for the sake of story, it becomes problematic.  And now, I’m going to question every piece of documentary theatre that I see.  And I don’t like that.  I agree with the statement that, “If ethics is the field that asks how we ought to live and what we owe to one another, then theatre’s answer lies in its insistence that no single version of events can be counted as truth.”  What Daisey did was ethically wrong.  But it made for good theatre.  And I feel bad that I enjoyed it as much as I did. 

Usually, I want to go to the theatre to go into a different world.  A different place.  A different construct than what I usually am in.  Admittedly, I’m not one to seek out documentaries or documentary theatre for two reasons.  First, they make me think.  Which isn’t a bad thing.  Certain people (like Osi’s husband) crave documentaries because they want what’s real.  They want to be informed.  Except that for me, much like my writing, in my thinking I have a tendency to over-do.  I dwell on an issue and go down the rabbit hole of the internet searching out facts, seeking answers, and get really depressed.  Because I wonder what I can do to change things.  And I struggle with the fact that quite often there’s nothing I can do.  (Pause- Drea, try and remember what Dr. Fletcher said yesterday about the little things that we can do that help.)  But it’s frustrating because I admit I’m results oriented.  I want things to change now. The other thing that scares me about documentaries is that as an actor and playwright, I’m committed to “getting things right.”  I’m such a perfectionist as an artist.  Any time I’ve played a “real-life” person, I’ve wanted it to be a perfect representation.  I am in awe of Anna Deavere Smith because of what she does.  I am fascinated by her taking on of every little nuance of a person.  Their tics, their hics, their ums.  And I think that’s how it should be.  But that makes for a really long and tedious process.  She’s perfected it. She has created “performable text” that still honor her subjects, yet is also theatrical.  If Daisey had used her model rather than his own creative (read- fabricated) storytelling, the show may have still been able to get its message across without manipulating the truth.  Interestingly, when I saw the show, Ron (my friend) had studied Mike Daisey and went the Deavere route of finding all of his movements and vocal nuances, yet without simply imitating him.  Which is a fine line to walk as an actor- one that I know for me would be personally difficult.

Finally, in regard to verbatim and documentary theatre, I keep coming back to the idea of my responsibility to others.  I have used family member, friends, co-workers, etc. as inspiration for characters I’ve written or played.  I think if any of my work that I’d based upon them became profitable, I’d go Hudes’ route and try and compensate them for it.  So, if the following Verbatim Play goes viral, I guess I’ll owe my New Kid cast big money.  Or at least a beer.

Musings on Being an Outsider (Taken from a recording of a New Kid rehearsal)

Drea:  I’ll start with Sarah since Osi’s eating. So, uh, Sarah, in a few sentences, what does it mean to you to be an outsider?

Sarah: Uh, sure.  See now, when I see the thing recording (giggle), it means hee hee, not quite fitting in anywhere, it means standing out from… a thing a conglomerate, I think of the movie Flubber -

Drea: (laughing) Okay                     Sarah: Where everything is one whole pulsing thing

Sarah: And not being able to meld and fit with that thing.  It’s just moving and being and

Dharmik: That’s a good image                                                                                    Sarah: breathing.

Drea: Dharmik, how ‘bout you? What does it mean to be an outsider-

                                                                                                Dharmik: What does it mean to be an outsider? Um, yeah, along the same lines as Sarah, uhum, just (slowly) not fitting in, I know growing up or whatever I never fit in (sound of Osi’s fork against her dish)…anywhere is what I felt?  Uh, with my friends- I did have friends- but I didn’t quite fit in there.  ‘Cause I would never really meet them after school, we never really, it was always a weird thing…um, and then at home, I didn’t fit in with my family ‘cause it just I uh it was different.

Drea: Mmhm.

Dharmik: Sooo, it was just me doing whatever I wanted to dooo- (trails off) – by myself for a very long time. 

Drea: Mmkay.  Alejandro?

Alejandro: Uhmm

Drea: What does it mean to you to be an outsider?

Alejandro: I think outsider has a lot of negative connotation to the word? Whereas you can actually look at it in a positive type uh way.  You just-                  Drea: Absolutely.

                                                                                Alejandro: You don’t mesh with the group because you’re either a leader or you’re an outcast so, ya know, it just depends which one you wanna be.

Drea: Kay.                           Osi: Hmm.

Drea: Osi?

Osi: Outside (clears throat loudly) Outsiders- excuse me! (Giggles softly) uh, when I think of aha the word outsider I think that there is an inside circle so there is there’s uh that that the outsider there is not a part of.  So, uh, exclusion, I think, I think of exclusion, I think of um, of uh being separate, ‘cause separate is kinda like a mentality and um, yeah.  Outsider- I don’t really- when I first hear the word it’s not, it’s not positive.  It’s not a positive thought that comes to me first.  When I think about it more, and I try to be smart like Alejandro (laughing)

                                                                Drea/Alejandro: (laughing)

                                                                                                Osi: I can think of the positive parts of being an outsider, you know.  Like, you know, there are, you know, you can make it positive.  In the uniqueness that comes with being not like everybody else.  But my first thought is, yeah, exclusion and ‘cause this inside circle that you’re not a part of. 

Drea: (slowly) Cool. Thanks you gu- (Recording cuts off)

Desert Dreams are Not So Soft

Ah, time.  The long and short of it.  When thinking about duration, the first thing that came to mind was In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly.  It’s one of my hub’s faves (along with Rush’s 2112- he’s a Neil Peart fan).  I always giggle when I hear In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, because as urban legend goes, the drunken singer slurred his words so badly that the person writing them down heard, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vita” instead of the intended, “In the Garden of Eden.”  Which leads to one of my favorite Simpsons sketches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSCUhqsy4Nk

But I digress…

(You may have noticed) I have a very hard time sticking to word counts.  It’s not that I don’t want to- I genuinely have a hard time being concise.  I think it’s my years as a child of not speaking because I was painfully shy.  The day I finally found my voice, I couldn’t shut it off and often, what I have to say comes gushing out- even when I ‘d prefer that it didn’t.  So, I was actually very drawn to the idea of the Twitter play- of only having a few characters to say what is essential.  In that vein, here’s my Twitter play (thought I’m not on Twitter).

Desert Dreams

Lea: @seattlegirl The rain is unending.  I can’t wake up. My mind can’t heal.

Seattlegirl: @leamebe He’s not coming back. 

Lea: @seattlegirl I’m moving to Arizona.

Furthering the idea of being succinct got me thinking about an artist I admire- Ani DiFranco.  She’s an incredible singer/songwriter.  And she doesn’t play by the rules of the music industry, which I love.  Ani cites her anti-corporate ideology for the main reason she decided to start her own label. Righteous Babe Records employs a number of people in her hometown of Buffalo.  Furthermore, the average length of a song is three and a half minutes, perfect for radio airplay.  Most people tend to go just a few seconds longer.  But the majority of DiFranco’s songs are four and half minutes or longer.  But I want to draw your attention to the “song” Not So Soft.  It’s the perfect length at exactly 2 minutes.  This is a spoken word arrangement (or free-form poetry) that speaks to DiFranco’s ethos.  It develops, says its piece, and concludes.  We hear DiFranco’s point of view looming large in the shadow of America's landscape- in a range of ideas encompassing AIDS, corporate structure, gender dynamics, sexual harassment, war, and love.  Just a few heavy topics made light in her hands. Not So Soft is a manifesto, if you will.  DiFranco explores feminism and a call to action through her narrative of failed America, desire, greed and the system that is failing us. Not So Soft is both a lullaby and wake up call, and its politically dense lyricism could lead a young college student (like me!) on a journey of personal discovery. Her sentiments are witty and humorous as well as eloquent.  It’s clear from her philosophic musings that she is someone who's not afraid to talk to strangers. One of Ani’s fans commented about Not So Soft, “In a desert of recycled rhetoric this one is as original as the forest floor.”  And she gives the listener all that in a mere 120 seconds!  Bravo! 

In Jeremy Gable’s commentary on his Twitter play, he discusses the appeal of being able to quickly and silently see a person’s story. “Without having talked to them, you get a narrative of their life.”  In Not So Soft, we get a very clear idea of what Ani Franco stands for artistically and musically.  You could listen to Not So Soft and make a clear "Yes" or "No" decision as to whether you wanted to hear anything else from her.  Her artistry is captured succinctly- and isn’t simple what we’re going for?  Even Tim Etchells, who advocates durational work, quips, “To put it simply, more simply.” 

I’ll aim to take a lesson from Ani, from Mike, and from Twitter on brevity.  I’m working on it.  Now, I’m going to stop writing.  Really.  Right now.  Backing away from the keyboard….

Oh, wait!  One last thing.  From Ani.

It's the failed america in me

It's the fear that lives

In a forest of stone

Underneath the corporate canopy

Where the sun

Rarely

Filters

Down

And the ground

Is not so soft

Tori Amos Covers Tom Waits

Tom Waits- Time

Friends, Daytonians, Countrymen!

So, sometimes you end up living in a city that you never thought you would.  Like Dayton, Ohio.  And you might find yourself wandering around the dilapidated downtown area, really questioning how you got here, and maybe even your life choices.  Then you stumble upon the steps of an old building and inspiration strikes!  What a cool spot for someone to get stabbed 37 times!  Thus, my idea for a site-specific Julius Caesar was born.

Downtown Dayton does have some issues.  There was a great flood of the Miami River back in the 1930s and there are parts of the downtown area that have never recovered.   The problem is, the city doesn’t have the money to renovate some of the damaged and dilapidated buildings.  And apparently, there’s a grandfather clause somewhere that says that corporations cannot move into the downtown area.  No Starbucks, Daytonians- sorry!   And unfortunately, the current economy in Dayton doesn’t allow for locally-owned business to have sustainability in the dingy, yet expensive storefronts.  Thus, many building sit empty.  But the silver lining, if there is one, is that some of the older buildings and houses are really beautiful, architecturally speaking.  And though it is a small downtown area, it is alive with business people, artists, students, and politicians, all of whom work and play in the close downtown quarters.  You’ll see the mayor out grabbing coffee and a muffin with people on the board of directors for one of the downtown arts organizations.   Since Dayton has a community feel even though it is a larger city, why not capitalize on that from an artistic standpoint? Since moving there in 2014, I’ve noticed that there has been a lot of development in outdoor activities in the plaza next door to the courthouse.  Food trucks, live music and vendors are there on weekends.  I’ve seen the occasional troubadour performing.  But I’ve never seen theatre.  So, maybe it’s time for me to do something about it. 

The courthouse was one of the first buildings that struck me.  And after walking around the courthouse, I discovered there’s also an open plaza next door with a raised platform area.  So, my wheels started turning.  What if, various scenes of the show were in different locations of the downtown area? Because the downtown area is so small and easily walkable, I think the show could move pretty seamlessly from location to location.  Caesar could be assassinated on the steps of the courthouse.  The plaza could be where Antony delivers the iconic, “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” speech.  There are many statues in the downtown area.  We could use one of them to represent the one Decius references in the interpretation of Calpurnia’s dream of the sculpture spurting blood. If were going on the third axiom of the theatrical event taking place in a found space, a walking tour of downtown Dayton with scenes in each location may be doable.  And may be interesting, even.   But, that would of course, be too easy.  I would want to experiment with a few more axioms. 

In the spirit of Sleep No More, the text could just be my jumping off point.  What if, instead of the consecutive scenes, the show was re-imagined?  Each location could play the same scenes over and over on a loop and the audience could just be given a map of the various locations.  So, in that vein, Caesar could be getting murdered while 25 feet away, Antony is eulogizing.  We could have actual crowd reactions to his and Brutus’ speeches- how cool is that?  Also, there are some great houses located in the downtown area.  What if in the front yard of a home, we see Portia heating up a piece of charcoal on the grill outside?  We might not get to see her swallow it, but we could give the audience a sense of foreboding as she walks into the house with the coal and draws the curtains shut. 

Since there are multiple statues in the area, maybe we see the Decius scene, “this dream is all amiss interpreted. It was a vision fair and fortunate. Your statue spouting blood in many pipes,” but the next statue we come across is ACTUALLY SPOUTING BLOOD!  Maybe there are Romans bathing in it as prophesied in a weird sort of dance of joy.  And maybe, inside the courthouse we watch people in various rooms on the CC televisions at the security desk- and perhaps in on one TV, we hear Cassius and Brutus conspiring, since Caesar is growing ambitious.  On the other cameras, we may see Calpurnia giving an interview, Flavius and Murellus giving a press conference, and Casca bitching about Caesar on his cell phone.  This way, we get to play with the fourth axiom of focus.  If the spectators like what they see on the CC they can wander the courthouse building and find the room with one of the characters they’ve been watching.

While Antony might get tired of giving his speech in the plaza over and over, it would also be interesting to see who stopped to watch.  Or, to give the Antony actor breaks, perhaps the plaza could break out in festive Lupercalia activities with dancing and music.  Maybe we could see Antony offer Caesar the crown thrice times, and have him turn it down thrice- to the chagrin of Antony and the audience who is drinking and partying.  There wouldn’t really be a way to patrol who was in the plaza (it’s a large open area), so people on the street might join the paying audience for that scene.  But, if a passerby was curious, actors could guide them into the ticketing area by the courthouse and they could join the fun.

That’s my idea for now.  Whether or not I can make it happen depends on time, money, and if I end up back in Dayton.  But it’s fun to dream big, and I think that this scenario could be effective.  Maybe even make Schechner proud.