This show (Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde for those playing along at home) has been eating my life.
And this weekend it repaid me for the time I've dedicated.
I almost had forgotten what it is like to take part in a show that has something important to say. For all of my academic devotion to political and social change theatre, the entertainment and production side in this topic is sadly lacking. The next couple weeks are going to get even busier: tech week, school workshops and matinees, workshops in a prison upstate, and the show as it "officially" is listed on the posters in the theater.
But this past weekend was our first full run that really felt that things are coming together. I've finally stopped worrying about the lines. I'm not saying that I am speaking every word correctly, but the character has taken over and it is no longer just recitation of lines. And I received a compliment from our stage manager that gave me confidence that I am on the right track. There was a point in the second act that drains me emotionally, even though it is basically the 30 minutes where I don't have lines. Wilde is forced to listen to the examinations and cross-examinations of the "boys." I think this is the point where Wilde is defeated. Not legally, since the jury is unable to reach a verdict, but emotionally. He has to hear these people that he admired turn against him, and then see their true colors when Wilde's attorney cross-examines them to expose their seedy natures. A double betrayal. There is no high art, no talk of aesthetics, no defense that Wilde can give. He just sits there and is forced to listen.
After rehearsal last night, I was simultaneously drained and invigorated.
My experience with this play can be summed up by a quote from Wilde (and in the play):
Art has a spiritual ministry. It can raise and sanctify everything it touches, and popular disapproval must not impede its progress.
Art is what makes the life of each citizen a sacrament.
Art is what makes the life of the whole race immortal.
Know you must feel a deep sense of accomplishment.I don't remember a lot of detail from the performance we saw at Missouri Rep some years ago; know there was a lot of detail! Will be eager to hear how it goes in the other venues; especially in the prison setting.
Colder than blitzen here; only a skiff of additonal snow last night. Sounds like NY was getting pounded.
Keep us posted. PaPa
Posted by at February 15, 2007 05:57 PM