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Curtain Rising - Index

Curtain Rising - Curtain Rising Magazine - Volume 1, Issue 20 - September 11, 2007 - Index

seems comparatively light after what
we have seen happened at Abu
Ghraib and what we can imagine is
happening at Guantanamo Bay.
In two acts, each lasting about an
hour, the show depicts a day in the
life of a prison camp. The officers
rudely wake the prisoners, and the
audience, with blaring bright lights
and the banging of trash can lids
against the metal fence. It is not
pleasant, but it is powerful - Brecht's
alienation effect taken to the nth
degree.
The prisoners have no names, only
numbers. The officers scream at
them, call them maggots. They march
about like terrified gaited horses. At one point, prisoner
"Two? is ordered to march back and forth across the
stage for no less than five minutes, by the end of which
the actor's olive green shirt is drenched in sweat and
enough gravel dust has been kicked so as to burn the
throats of audience members in the first rows. Little is
said, and what is said is almost always shouted. Officers
Photo courtesy of the Living Theatre
A prisoner of war recieves some instruction.
7
Photo courtesy of the Living Theatre
Some not-so-pleasant words are exchanged between torturer and prisoner.
scream orders. Prisoners ask permission to cross the
white line. Officers scream and insult in response.
After we have been beat down with the grinding,
harsh repetition of the first act, the second act is more
varied. The prisoners wash down the deck with great
buckets of water, an effective contrast to the dustiness
of the first act. Then, one of our nameless prisoners,
"Six,? can't take it anymore. He goes insane, cries out,
leaps on the chain-link fence, hoping to escape. He
does get out, but his exit is not one of freedom, but in
a straightjacket.
As the two hour show comes to an end, I began to
feel like a prisoner myself. Indeed, there are two sets of
prisoners - those on stage and those in the audience.
While the audience endures far less than the fictional
characters, all may wish to escape. This is art for which
the audience suffers, in order to gain knowledge of
not only human rights abuses, but also modern theatre
history and the possibilities of political performance art.
As the day in prison camp, and the show, ends, one
of the officers shouts, "Are all my children asleep??
"Yes, sir,? the prisoners reply from their bunks. We, the
audience, are wide awake.
Details +
The Brig is playing through September 16, 2007 at
The Living Theatre
21 Clinton Street
(Extension of Ave B just below Houston St)
Wednesday - Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 4 pm
To find out more about The Brig and other Living
Theatre productions, visit: www.livingtheatre.org
September 11, 2007