"In the Widening Gyre" addresses the question, "How do we deal with tragedy if we no longer believe in 'the gods'?"
It is a question that the play's author, Lear deBessonet, a fourth-year political and social thought major, had long been asking herself.
DeBessonet's exploration of the question is staged in this original work that opened yesterday in the Helms Theatre, the smaller theater located next to Culbreth.
Considering recent events, this question obviously has become much more timely than was perhaps initially intended.
"In the Widening Gyre" represents something of a break from what most people consider "normal" theater. The author spent time studying with Anne Bogart, an innovative avant-garde director, researching two methods called Viewpoints and Suzuki.
Traditional western theater is much as you see it on television or in the movies. Essentially, normal theater is mostly unphysical and simply a live-action television show. This style limits theater and may be to blame for its decreasing relevance to modern society.
Largely unfamiliar, Viewpoints and Suzuki borrow from different crafts, notably modern dance, in their expression of theater to the audience. How "In the Widening Gyre" and traditional theater differ is in their interaction with the audience. Classical theater is an asynchronous communication. The performance may be for the benefit of the audience, but there is little or no participation in the experience. If the audience has any particular affect on the play, it is unintentional.
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In contrast, "In the Widening Gyre" is staged so that a particularly receptive audience will receive much more of the play's impact. This isn't to say that the audience impacts the quality of the performance or changes it significantly, but there is more offered to audience members than if they were to watch the piece as a television program. It is recommended that the viewer pay close attention to the show, because the actors will try to perform "for you" rather than "at you."
The content and structure is dedicated to an exploration of this question. In fact, this work is something of a collage, borrowing from many sources, including "Oedipus Rex," Vogue magazine, various modern poetry, "Soap Opera Digest" and the writings of T. S. Eliot and Nietzsche.
The classic and most recognizable work of Greek theater to the modern viewer, "Oedipus Rex," was chosen for that familiarity and for its relevance to the question. Much conventional wisdom about "Oedipus Rex" comes from the work of Sigmund Freud. The most famous of these is the "Oedipus complex," in which a boy wants to murder his father in order to marry his mother.
Viewers of this new play would do well to avoid applying Freud's interpretation here. The essential plot moments depicting how Oedipus comes to marry his mother and bring plague on Thebes are the important elements carried over for this play.
In the planning stages for this production, deBessonet noted a similarity between the structure of T. S. Eliot's oft-studied poem "The Waste Land" and "Oedipus Rex." "In the Widening Gyre" is written in five parts that correspond to major events in "The Waste Land." A return to the Greek play and a newer style of theater were both chosen to engage the audience more deeply and differently than normal theater.
Of particular note is the staging chosen for this play. Action can be seen from all sides and be made to surround the audience. The set and costume design physically represents the clash that results from basing much of the play's text on "Oedipus Rex" and "The Waste Land."
The costumes are representative of normal Greek togas combined with almost "punk" modern clothing. The set is mostly made of trash, though it shouldn't be offensive to the nose. Colors are reserved for their impact and symbolism, so most things are in shades of gray, black and white.
"In the Widening Gyre" runs tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Cost is 5 ART$ dollars.
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