I'm in the middle of the debate.
I certainly do love "pointless" theatre... the Millie's, The Producers, etc of the world.
And I love the heavy psychosis, sometimes moralistic (though best when subtle) musicals of Sondheim and LaChiusa.
But more and more I am moving toward the idea that the theatre doesn't have to make you go out and change the world, but just make you think about people in a whole different light.
In Wicked, we never really struggle with accepting Elphaba because we know it'w wrong to discriminate. We're alaways basically on her side. Of course, this is a slight simplification, but the "point" is pretty obvious.
But in something like Light in the Piazza, there certainly isn't a sententious, easy, put it in a to-go box, easy to digest "moral" of the piece. The play is about a mother struggling to let her child go. But it is ALL in the way it's written. The show is beautiful, and unabashedly romantic, but the writing is such that you MUST think for yourself.
Caroline is, in its simplest, most bare bones plot structure, about a maid grappling with the decision to take the change. When she does, she does something she regrets, but then comes back to work. There is an amazingly miniscule amount of plot, but there are SO many issues brought up, that I could not help but be so entralled . In fact, my only complaint is that there it was a tad overreaching, and I blame Kushner's "Gulf of Mexico" geographical and metaphorical tropes. But gee, I left that theatre THINKING. And I still think about it.
Sondheim's plots are generally always wrapped up neatly, and buttoned in the end, but the brilliance comes from the inner action of the play, and how the characters behave, though they come to a conclusion. Some might look at the end of Into the Woods and say "Cop-out, crowd pleaser" but there is so much to think about during the play. There is never really a clear hero.
Contemporary theatre likes to leave the ending open, like in Piazza and Bernarda Alba, and certainly Caroline or Change. Perhaps because audiences are less willing to endow themselves in a play, these endings FORCE you to at least consider what might happen, if not for just that one minute as you leave the theatre.
It's 3:30 and I'm rambling, but I can't really comment on Grey Gardens as I have yet to listen to the CD, and I was unable to see it this weekend.
Personally, I think I have too much bloom.
Updated On: 10/22/06 at 03:22 AM
