Bent

Two plays under the belt for this week. Monday, we saw "Summer and Smoke" a Tennessee Williams exploration of unrequited love and all the pain that goes along with it. Yadda Yadda Yadda. The dialogue was ok, the acting was passable, the sets were functional...it was alright. Nothing wowed. Nothing made me think. Nothing shocked. It didn't suck. It didn't rock.

Overall, I shrug my shoulders and say, "Eh."

Last night was quite a different experience. We went to my favourite performance space , The Trafalgar Studios, to see Alan Cumming in Bent. Focusing on the lives of Berlin's gay (male) community, and their treatment at the hands of the Nazis, it was one of those rare moving theatre experiences that shows like Summer and Smoke just can't deliver.

I'll admit, it was touch and go in Scene 1. I saw Alan Cumming's full moon and another actor's full EVERYTHING and thought it might be a bit more gay man than I could handle. However, it quickly became a very intense and touching story that spoke universally to the bargains we all make with ourselves everyday. As one review I read said, "It has much more to do with the meaning of self, our responsibilities to others, and how we handle impossible situations which put our very existence at risk."

The staging was inventive and the acting was fabulous. Truly truly fabulous. It wasn't just Alan either, the whole cast was extremely impressive...and even more impressive is that they have to go through that emotional rollercoaster every night. I have to watch nothing but Friends re-runs and Disney movies for at least a week to recover, they have to do it all again tonight at 7.30.

If you can handle seeing a full on nekkid man on stage and don't mind a bit of the intense in your theater repetoire, I fully recommend it.