Passing Strange: A Critical Review - Essay Example

This musical is lacking the vivid costumes and scenery common to Broadway musicals, but it is not lessened at all for that. Because the viewer is left to fill in the blanks for him or herself, this play is different depending on the mood and the background of each audience member. It becomes so much more personal for that. It becomes the story of each person watching and that person's journey from where they were to where they are now, and where they want to go in the future. The minimalist style of scenery means that the viewer can take the scenes of Los Angeles and Berlin and Amsterdam, and see themselves in their own home town.

This play is a reminder of how similar we all are, across the world and across all lines of race and wealth. The story of the Youth and his journey of self-discovery is the story of all of us. Because within this story of art and love and exceptional people is a teenager being supported by his mother as he throws an international temper tantrum, going from place to place in search of “the Real”, and casting aside each person who helps him achieve his next step as soon as he feels he no longer needs their help (Scott).

This is not the story of the unreachable avant-garde elite, but simply the spoiled child everyone eventually realizes is within them, whether that child was allowed out or not. The story is primarily told through the lyrics of the songs, though at times it is possible to get lost within the individual songs and lose track of the overall plot line of the play (ISHERWOOD). For example, in the church scene where the Youth first discovers “The Real”, it can be difficult to follow what the singers are saying and what that has to do with the storyline.

However, the individual words matter less than the overall feel of the song. The point is to transmit the idea of the Youth's emotional state to the audience, not an exact sentence or speech. In more traditional theater, it is the job of the actors to clearly communicate each word and its meaning to the audience; in Passing Strange the job of the performers is to perform. The audience follows the meaning of the play by following the joy, sadness, anger, loneliness, and fulfillment being portrayed through song and dance, not by listening to the actor's words.

The film version of the play makes use of the availability of distance and new camera angles to tighten the story while simultaneously increasing its emotional depth. The camera switching between Stew and the Youth helps illuminate the connection between the two ages of the character while also making clear the changes that he has undergone in his journey from the Youth to a successful adult. The ability of the camera to zoom in on the actors to show their importance, as well as to show the whole stage and each person's place within it, shows the viewer where their attention should be directed at a given moment without being pushy about what parts of the play are “more important” than others (Scott).

This is not a film adaptation of a play. It is simply the use of cameras to capture the essence of the play that already existed. The play is performed on stage as it always was in front of an audience; the only difference is that it is being captured on film. Fourteen camera angles over the course of three shows were used to gather the shots needed to transmit this masterpiece to the screen. Passing Strange required the fourth wall, the one between the audience and the performers, to be broken in order to fully transmit its message.

While this can be confusing to some viewers, the presence of the band and the narrator in the scenes reminds the audience that this is a past story and a re-telling. Stew never expects the audience to believe that