For the third year in a row, I drove out to Johnson City Public Library for a Barter Player production. In 2009, I performed Tuck Everlasting. Last year, I saw The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Yesterday, I attended Red Badge of Courage.
Red Badge is geared toward high schoolers, but the elementary school kids in the front row were captivated. Every scene was scenically sparse, active, and important. The music and sound adhered to 1860s Virginia except for the battle scenes - Nick, the director, chose speed metal. I felt it was a perfect choice. Battle is unlike anything else in life - vicious, out-of-body, heightened - and the music reflected that.
I loved the production. I was allowed to use my imagination to create the hills and roads of Virginia, the thousands of uniformed soldiers, the smoke and noise. Isn't that why we go to the theatre? To allow our imaginations to fill in the blanks? If we wanted complete realism, we would watch TV or a film.
I find myself drawn, over and over again, to productions that embrace non-realistic theatricality to effectively tell the story.
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