Questions Raised by Frames – UNCLE VANYA AND ZOMBIES at KT
The trick to why television and movies are so popular, so
prevalent, so everyday, has to do with catharsis. The average person can
experience the world without ever leaving the couch. We believe what we see on
the screen enough to have physical reactions: an increase in heart rate, an
outburst of laughter, the welling of tears in our eyes. Theatre, with its
obviously constructed nature, isn’t able to match the believability of film, no
matter how hard a production may try. This could be seen as a limitation, but
only if the object of a play is to be as “real” as what’s on screen. A better
objective might be to play with the very idea of realness, believability, and
the human desire for catharsis. This is what Uncle Vanya and Zombies
does.
The play is actually a play within the frame of a reality TV
show within the frame of a theatre within the frame of a Zombie-infested
version of O‘ahu. The contestants are acting in Chekhov’s classic in the hopes of
winning a ticket to the mainland. While performing, they must fend off zombies,
stay in character, remember their lines, and not die and turn into zombies. Two
TV host personalities introduce the audience to the concept, while ostensibly
also speaking to the viewers at home. The series, we are told repeatedly, has
raised millions in relief funds for the victims of Pearl Harbor II, the nuclear
accident that resulted in all the zombies.
This show is funny. The many frames, including a giant
electric fence surrounding the set, separate the audience from a genuine
emotional connection to anyone or anything on stage. The characters in the play
aren’t real—they’re just part of a reality show. The contestants aren’t
real—they’re just actors. The hosts aren’t real because this is all some kind
of big joke. We, the audience, aren’t even real—we’re acting too. We’re in on
the joke. So we laugh. Look at them trying to perform a play while spastic
zombies attack. So ridiculous. As if a show like this could ever really exist.
As if human beings could be so crass. Listen to how the lines in the play
relate to the made-up situation for which the play is being performed. The
corruption and greed of humanity. How desperate people are, whether because of
love or zombies. How clever! Ha-ha!
For those who might wonder why Vanya and zombies,
“Chekhov expert” Craig Howes comes in between rounds to give a mini-lecture,
culminating with the idea of consumption. We are consumers—we are consumed.
Physically, mentally, literally, and metaphorically.
The frameworks that serve to distance also indict the
audience. Director Markus Wessendorf includes the spectator and says, look at
these pathetic people, see how they suffer, isn’t it wonderful?, and when we
nod our heads and laugh, we comply. Wesserndorf employs the concepts of
influential German theatre revolutionary Bertolt Brecht (which is not
surprising given that he engineered Hawai‘i’s very own Brecht Festival a couple
of years back). While Vanya and Zombies superficially provides clever
entertainment for the zombie-loving masses, sociopolitical messages confront
the audience on a more subliminal level, raising thought-provoking questions:
Why is suffering entertaining? Why do we laugh as characters fight for their
lives?
The messages, not restricted to the play, reflect other
public entertainment venues. Why do crowds boo injured players on the football
field just because they didn’t catch a ball? Or why do they cheer at home if
the suffering player is on the other team? Beyond that, we now have fantasy
sports, where people pick and choose live players as if they were pieces on a
virtual board game. Mass entertainment allows for the dehumanization of
contestants, and yet pretend characters on our favorite TV shows bring us to tears.
I can imagine this production staged with audience on all
sides, as opposed to proscenium, like a sporting event. The proximity of
audience members to the actor-contestants (and zombies) probably would have
raised the stakes. The whole production could have been more interactive,
energizing, and poignant, while still providing distance created by the
multiple frames—a mental rather than physical difference. As it was, the
audience neither cheered nor cried. We laughed. And so I wonder how many felt confronted
with the questions I found after meditating on what I had seen. The detachment,
I fear, may have been too complete, leaving many merely entertained. Then
again, perhaps I’m not giving the zombie-loving masses enough credit.
Tickets and Showtimes
Nov 9, 10, 15, 16, 17 at 8pmNov 18 at 2pm
Regular: $24.00
Seniors, Military, UH Faculty/Staff: $22.00
UHAA Members: $15.00
Students: $13.00
UH Manoa Students with Valid ID: $5.00
Comments
Post a Comment