Naturalism: Pickering and Thompson

1.  Two shows that stand out in my mind would have to be The Laramie Project by Tectonic Theatre Company and SE-PA-RATE= which was an original work.  I was an audience member for Laramie, and I was involved in the production of SE-PA-RATE= (dramaturge and assistant director).  Funny enough SE-PA-RATE=  was created by NOCCA drama students after a two month workshop with Tectonic.  Both of these plays were very informative.  Laramie was all about the hate crime which Matthew Shepard was a victim of, and all of the dialogue and characters in this show came from interviews with the people who were involved.  SE-PA-RATE= was created based on Plessey v. Ferguson.  Brief history lesson... Homer Plessey was a black man, but he was so light-skinned he could easily pass as white.  On June 7th, 1892, to make a statement, he got on a train in New Orleans and sat in a "whites only" car instead of the "colored" car.  He then announced the fact that he was actually a black man.  The train had only moved two blocks before stopping, and Plessey was escorted from the car and arrested.  Judge Ferguson was the man who resided over his trial.  In the play created, that was the basis of it... separate but equal.  All dialogue used came from court and police records and testimonials.  This play extended past just the trial however and brought to light all the ways separate but equal play a role in our lives, whether it be skin color, sexual orientation, gender, etc.  Now, plays of this nature are extremely different from let's say Spamalot.  I saw that at the Mahalia Jackson when it was touring.  The play was hilarious!  I laughed and even cried, from laughing so hard that is.  Spamalot is clearly for entertainment purposes only and does not shed light on sensitive subjects like the other two plays.  The other two plays awaken an awareness within you.  The audience should leave the theatre asking questions.  While leaving Spamalot, people will just keep talking about how a man lost all his limbs on stage in sword fight (I know that's what I did)!


2.  I believe that plays that strive for documentary "verbatim" do offer a new/clarified truth.  The two go hand in hand.  If something is important enough, that you feel the need to go as verbatim as possible, then it will most likely offer some kind of truth that might not have been thought of before.  It will show you a new way of looking at things because you only have the words of certain people, so their experiences and opinions will influence what this truth becomes.  I don't feel that naturalism quite fits into this category, though.  Example, in Chicago at Steppenwolf, I saw Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies.  This play had a kitchen-sink drama set, literally... the sink worked, the fridge and freezer were functioning, etc.  To the audience, it looked and functioned like a real apartment.  See here http://youtu.be/_wrprwOdQa4.  They play itself was very real and based on circumstances that could happen in modern society too.  It was, also, enlightening seeing these people deal with their struggles.  However, I don't think every play like this has to be enlightening or show you something new, so that's why I wouldn't include it in the same category.