A deep thinker is unlikely to become a Marlowe. Thinking will expose that occupation's risks and suggest alternative opportunities. Nevertheless, in order to survive as a Marlowe (which Marlowe does), one must judge characters well and make winning choices. For that, Marlowe has moral taste, an instinct, or principles. Marlowe is attracted to others who appear to share his good taste---regardless of whether their taste has translated into accomplishments. Aware of the world's imperfections, Marlowe recognises that translation's haphazard nature.
Reading a mystery is addictive. Confronted with a good question, the mind refuses to admit that a good answer may be unavailable. The entire civilization has been built on the addiction to riddles the solutions to which may be beyond one's reach. This irrational addiction is valuable provided one chooses the object of his addiction rationally.
5 September 2011
3 September 2011
When the Rain Stops Falling
(Studio Theatre, 3 September 2011)
British plays excel at exploring class, American ones at rebellion, Russian ones at despair. Each subject could be regarded as a dominant trait of the corresponding national character, if there were such a thing as the national character. This Australian play explores whether a sick parent can conceive healthy progeny. Andrew Bovell, the playwright, answers in the affirmative (at least after sufficiently many generations), thereby salvaging the Australian character.
In the same way as the expression of an individual's genes is influenced by his environment, the national character is largely shaped by the rules of the game prescribed by the political and economic systems. A collection of individual characters is an inept metaphor for a country's national character in the same way as an individual's genotype is a poor protagonist for a novel. At best, an individual's character is a symptom, not a cause, of his country's condition. Being mutable, the national character is not as useful a concept as the individual character; politics and economics can be altered in ways that brain cannot be.
Occasionally grotesque, the play nevertheless leaves some room for acting. Each player finds a scene in which to excel. Donna Belleville and Peter Millard excel consistently.
British plays excel at exploring class, American ones at rebellion, Russian ones at despair. Each subject could be regarded as a dominant trait of the corresponding national character, if there were such a thing as the national character. This Australian play explores whether a sick parent can conceive healthy progeny. Andrew Bovell, the playwright, answers in the affirmative (at least after sufficiently many generations), thereby salvaging the Australian character.
In the same way as the expression of an individual's genes is influenced by his environment, the national character is largely shaped by the rules of the game prescribed by the political and economic systems. A collection of individual characters is an inept metaphor for a country's national character in the same way as an individual's genotype is a poor protagonist for a novel. At best, an individual's character is a symptom, not a cause, of his country's condition. Being mutable, the national character is not as useful a concept as the individual character; politics and economics can be altered in ways that brain cannot be.
Occasionally grotesque, the play nevertheless leaves some room for acting. Each player finds a scene in which to excel. Donna Belleville and Peter Millard excel consistently.
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