Experimental or avant-garde theatre

[Caliga]

So we saw a very strange play on Friday evening called "Under Construction".  It was entirely without plot, and the playwright randomly mixed scenes that were Norman Rockwell-esque with nightmarish, dystopian scenes reminiscent of Silent Hill or something.

Princesca HATED the play, calling it one of the worst things she's ever seen.  I still don't know what to make of it.

Like alot of experimental theatre, there was some degree of audience participation.  For one scene, one of the actresses grabbed a mic and started asking members of the audience graphic sexual questions.  She asked one old lady if she owned a vibrator, for example.

Anyway, I'm curious what people think of this kind of thing.  I can't remember ever seeing such an unconvential play before.

[Ed Anger]

HULK SMASH!

Seriously, sounds retarded and something only 28 year old theater grads would enjoy.

[Caliga]

There was also a nude gay man on stage at one point.  To Marty, surely it's the greatest play in history.

[Syt]

There was also a nude gay man on stage at one point.  To Marty, surely it's the greatest play in history.

I feel reminded of the IT Crowd episode where they go to the musical.

[Caliga]

To give an example of how the scenes progressed:

There was one scene where one of the actors was smoking a pipe and narrating the scene, which was a reenactment of one of those '50s filmstrips about how a young couple is supposed to properly court.

NARRATOR: When Johnny arrives at Mary's door, he is to knock politely and wait for Mary to open the door.  Mary opens the door, smiles politely, and says:

MARY:  Good evening Johnny, I'm delighted that you have arrived on time for our evening out together!

JOHNNY:  Good evening, Mary.  Would you please introduce me to your parents?  Let me help you with your coat.

Most middle-aged American posters will no doubt know what I'm talking about (and possibly others, but I dunno for sure.

Anyway, so that scene ended abruptly and then the next scene consisted of an actress reading index cards with a random mix of catch phrases on them, pitching each one to the floor.  Behind her, there was a woman repeatedly vomiting into a bucket, a naked guy wrapped in clear plastic screaming and chewing on the front of the plastic thing like he was trying to burst out of a chrysalis (very Silent-Hillish), a guy in his underwear being duct-taped to a flagpole by two other men, another guy hitting the stage wall repeatedly with a baseball bat, and another guy wearing a grotesque clown mask (looked like a Killer Klowns prop) parading around in random circles.  It got increasingly hard to hear the card reader over the cacophony going on behind her.

[Caliga]

Well, how about that.  The playwright has the entire script on his website:

http://www.charlesmee.org/html/construction.html

[The Brain]

I've managed to dodge experimental theater to a large degree. Voted HULK SMASH.

[katmai]

I'm not patient enough to sift through the 99% of it that is crap to get to 1% that is decent or better.

[Caliga]

Well, in an interesting parallel, there were some scenes that I thought were brilliant, but some that were so bad as to be like torture ("Oh Hod please let this END!")

I realize that the playwright more than likely considers those scenes successes, since the goal may well have been to torture the audience with them.

[Savonarola]

It's awful; but usually I can get an anecdote out of it.  So the avant-garde has made my life richer.   

[Zanza]

I think the last play I saw in theater was a horrible interpretation of Büchner's Danton's Death. It featured garden gnomes, simulated pissing on the stage and nudity among other horrible stuff I thankfully can't remember in detail. Half the audience left in the pause and I think they fired the director a short time later because it was just that bad. Based on this, I have to say that I don't like experimental theater.

I was also about the only one I know who didn't like Blue Men Group.

[Caliga]

I don't like Blue Man Group either.   I can't understand why it's so wildly popular.

[Josquius]

Sounds amusing.
But going to the threate in general is rather offputting. The snobby aura is designed to keep my ilk out seemingly.

[Admiral Yi]

To give an example of how the scenes progressed:
<snip>

Aren't we past the point of bitching about the 50s?

[DisturbedPervert]

Anyway, so that scene ended abruptly and then the next scene consisted of an actress reading index cards with a random mix of catch phrases on them, pitching each one to the floor.  Behind her, there was a woman repeatedly vomiting into a bucket, a naked guy wrapped in clear plastic screaming and chewing on the front of the plastic thing like he was trying to burst out of a chrysalis (very Silent-Hillish), a guy in his underwear being duct-taped to a flagpole by two other men, another guy hitting the stage wall repeatedly with a baseball bat, and another guy wearing a grotesque clown mask (looked like a Killer Klowns prop) parading around in random circles.  It got increasingly hard to hear the card reader over the cacophony going on behind her.

Oh, so it's a comedy.