I didn't see the production so can't comment on that, but I did read the script some time ago and didn't think it was very well-written. However,sometimes plays don't read well, and work only when performed. This play obviously has affected a lot of women, so it must offer something. I know I reacted to a couple of the monologues and I am not very PC at all, being a conservative (as you know). I also think people react on levels that have absolutely nothing to do with the literary value or the comparative depth of the analysis, but more to do with some mutual emotional experience. Maybe VM works because of that-- shlock or not.
I had the same reaction last week seeing a performance of Spinning Into Butter. I thought it was jejune and self-indulgent. I wanted to get up in the middle of this long monologue by the lead and just SMACK her and say, GET OVER IT! I finally fell asleep, much to Dan's relief I'm sure since I was muttering about adolescent obvious caricatures and manipulative garbage.
Imagine how embarrassed I am to learn the other night (we had two theatre teachers to dinner) that this was an award winning play by a playwright who is innovative, original, this is "Remarkable and nervy...a play of blistering force," to quote a review. Well, whoops.
It's about a dean of diversity in a small, New England college (read white but PC) who in dealing with a racial incident goes through this endless self-examination and discovers- surprise- she is prejudiced. And she agonizes about it in a monologue (the one where I almost jumped on the stage and slapped her) I have now learned that it is a satirical, but ultimately searing exploration of America's liberal conscience.
Obviously I should have read the reviews before seeing it. Maybe that was your problem. You just didn't REALIZE how important this work was or you would have gotten more from it.
And yes, I have tongue firmly in cheek.
I have very mixed feelings about VM but don't think I want to sit through a production, although I wonder if it would be more effective performed by many women, and not just the author herself? |
