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  Any time he had a piece of technology- be it a phone, a printer, something that could become outdated within the year, he always wanted the newest best thing.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)