The Role of Theatre and Ethics - Essay Example

Theatre Order No. 300937 No. of pages: 5 6530 Theatre is a very wide and has many facets to it. Therefore, in this essay I have chosen to explain one angle of theatre by taking into account three very popular productions. The topic I have chosen to elaborate on is ‘Theatre and Ethics’ and I would be making use of the following three productions – 1) ‘Fat Pig’ by Neil LaBute, 2) ‘The Shape of Things’ which is also by the same Neil LaBute and 3) ‘Angels in America.’ Based on these three topics, I would be investigating, comparing and contrasting and analyzing them from an ethical point of view related to theatre. One of the ‘true masterpieces of modern drama ’as described by Robert Cohen is Tony Kushner’s ‘Angels In America.’ This thrilling panache of a play received critical acclaim right from its inception and went on to win laurels such as the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize, in 1993. It is a seven hour long play made up of two parts that captured the contemporary theatre scene in America and by the year 1995 was absorbed into the international repertoire of drama festivals across the world. Described as one of 20th century’s most humorous plays, the centrifugal point of Kushner’s AIDS crisis is no laughing matter. He deftly brings to the forefront many of the unsettled ethical issues in American culture such as religion, race, politics, gender and sexual orientation. The play revolves around a heterosexual couple who is pitted against a homosexual couple and both stories are interwoven with each other highlighting the hate and trauma of the Jewish lawyer who is a gay with AIDS, but is in great self- denial. Many critics have criticized the play for the in your face kind of ethical issues of nudity on stage, the horrifying depictions of people suffering from AIDS, satire that is savagely religious, the cursing and swearing with invectives and to top it all the gross miming of homosexual acts which goes against the conservative nature of a major part of the audience. Quite similar where an odd couple romance is concerned is Neil LaBute’s humor – studded play titled ‘Fat Pig’ which is a genuinely engaging love story of two quite different characters, Tom, the totally sympathetic character and the heart-wrenching and amply endowed Helen. Unlike the ethical issues in Angels, LaBute jogs our memory to the kind of attitude we have towards ethical issues such as plastic surgery, stomach stapling and our association of success with youthful and athletic looks. Though the idea of a sweet romance between a stout lady with a handsome, attractive and athletic guy is humorous in itself, yet it had the capacity to make the audience understand how our thought processes take shape and how people react to such a situation. Angels in America established the reputation of Tony Kushner as one of the finest playwrights of modern America. The play deals with the scandalous issue of gay rights, homosexuality, AIDS, the social and political reaction to it and the final acknowledgement of many ethical issues which had been swept under the carpet. In this play, defined as “a turning point in the history of gay drama, the history of American drama, and of American literary culture” by John M. Clum (Geis, Steven pg1) the theme of gay peoples alienation and their subsequent acceptance into society is highlighted. In LaBute’s play ‘Fat Pig’, we see Helen as a victim who gets sidelined because of her size and we get drawn into the vortex that alludes success and happiness to ones physical appearance. Tony Kushner has admirably brought to the stage the burning issue of gay rights, explored through the lives of two couples, one gay and the other straight. The play has been called, by its creator a new genre called the “Theatre of the Fabulous” (Geis, Steven pg1) wherein the audience is treated to an American epic, set in the post-modern age. In sharp contrast to Kushner’s play is LaBute’s play titled ‘The Shape Of Things’ which deals with a heterosexual couple, but has a new twist to it. In this play we have Evelyn, a very smart, intelligent and very confident female who shares a relationship with the more soft and amiable Adam. However, Evelyn is not too happy and hence tries to change Adam’s attitude, which she has to face in the end. The narrative is complex and there is an intermingling of reality, fantasy and dreams, all coming together to create a didactic play, but with very subtle moralizing. The play ‘Angels’ on the other hand, deals not only with gay rights, but shows the struggles which couples face in love and betrayal, while they continue to look for the meaning “of faith, family and America itself at an apocalyptic moment” when the whole nation was caught in a swirl of doubts.( Rich, New York Times,2003) Angels in America, takes a look at the ethics behind denial of rights to the gay community, especially the blinkered approach of the Reagan administration, portrayed by Ray Cohn, who was more afraid of accepting this sexual orientation than of the terrible disease that may accompany it. Kushner himself, while talking about the play, questioned the communitys embrace, which encompasses not only the bonds of society, but those between individuals. In the play, we see the tenuousness of relationships, how inseparable associations are rendered meaningless, and in the end each one is left alone. But Kushner speaks of hope, and so we find new associations being formed, especially those between the most unlikely candidates, who are Prior and Harper, and Hannah and Prior. Identity is another very important ethical aspect which Kushner has explored in this path breaking play. We have a large number of religious groups, like the WASP, Jews, the Mormons and the blacks, while the identity formed due to sexual orientation is also explored. Characters like Louis and Ray show the divisiveness that comes due to identification, but characters like Prior and Hannah show how these divisions can be breached when people respect each others differences. Quite similar to this is LaBute’s play ‘The Shape Of Things’ where Evelyn is shown trying to erase Adam’s identity by wanting him to be more bold and courageous instead of the amiable person that he is. The rapidly changing world and the stress which it brings is another aspect which Kushner has portrayed in the play. Kushner uses the characters of Emily the nurse and Rabbi Chemelwitz, and most importantly, the Angels, to issue a call to bring a stop to the migratory tendency of humans, which leaves them un-rooted from their surroundings and fills them with despair. The Angels in fact asked Prior to bring a cessation to the continuous motion in which human beings indulge. The reason why he is chosen is also because of his family history, rooted in tradition although they had also migrated. Prior becomes the poster boy of the Utopia which the Angels wish to create on earth. Change is seen most prominently in Louis, who moves from being the callous partner to one who, reconciles himself to his duty towards the person whom he had shared his earlier life. This change, or the stirrings of change, can be compared to the change in the political and social scenario, which the play hoped to see. The head in the sand attitude of the Regan and Bush Administration slowly gave way to the open acknowledgement of gays by the Clinton Administration and the play celebrates the optimism of the community. It looks forward to a future where individuals would not be marginalized on account of their sexual orientation, but included for their humane qualities. The play sends out a message of hope for all those who lived in the fear of being exposed, to not only the disease but to public ridicule, when Prior Walter says, “were not going away. We wont die secret deaths any more. The world only spins forward.” In the final analysis of LaBute’s film, we can say that it is not the pleasure of watching how the play ends but the striking performances of his characters and the tight and very carefully handled script. ‘The Shape of Things’ by LaBute gives its audience a lot of food for thought as it clearly brings out how one character can dominate the other and what are its outcomes. All the three plays are stimulating as they are capable of making a good part of their audience to identify with it and at the same time it serves to bring forward many of the realities as they exist. References Angels, Reagan and AIDS In America - The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/arts/angels-reagan-and-aids-in-america.html?pagewanted=all Deborah R. Geis, Steven F. Kruger, Approaching the millennium http://books.google.co.in/books?id=11xyb6Bk9SgC&dq=%2Bresearch+articles+on+Angels+in+America&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=S0MSSoOfLI3W6gPGnuCqDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=12#PPA1,M1 Frank Rich, Angels, Reagan and AIDS In America. Published: Sunday, November 16, 2003 Neil LaBute’s ‘Fat Pig’ www.nymag.com/nymetro/arts/theater/10464 SparkNotes: Angels in America http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/angels/themes.html ‘The Shape of Things’ A Curtain Review. (2004) www.curtainup.com/shapeofthings.html Read More