Walking out from the Radiohole performance “Whatever, Heaven Allows”, I overheard a gentleman say to his friend, “This was the right time for them to do this piece; they wouldn’t have gotten away with it a few years ago. The audience might not completely know what’s going on, but they’re open to the experience.”
The show was, as my WACTAC companions to the performance put it, “absurd and wonderful.” It could be the New York Times article, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/weekinreview/10stone.html , that I recently read, but upon looking at the set of flat screen monitors, video projections, elaborately decorated microphone stands, projections, record players, and touch sensitive arm band transmitters, I couldn’t help but think about how profoundly connected we are to technology as a form of communication and how much more dependent we will become.
I said to myself, “What are the effects of being so connected and efficient?” Perhaps it’s a world that condenses all experience into short snippets, where only the necessary is transmitted and stays on the surface, far removed from intellectual examination. Take the exchanges between the two female actresses, basic and common repeating of words and exchanges are streamlined and shortened to demonstrate only the integral moments of life stages, resulting in a lot of random, inept, and asinine behavior.
Social gathering scene 1:
“Shall we have a martini?”
The five person casts says in unison, “Chug, chug, chug.”
Isn’t that essentially what a party is? Maybe, take away the unidentifiable dark liquid splashed on their faces and clothes, but sure; why not?
It’s fun, and regardless of the deeper meaning woven within the script and performance, music, unexpected unison dancing, beer, projections, and solid acting make for a good time.