|
|
Collaborative art draws audience into ‘recovery’ |
| By
Cynthia Nowak |
|
|
Nov 13, 2006 |
|
You’re addicted. At least you think you are. The government says that you are; experts in addiction tell you that you’ve got a mysterious but dangerous blue drug in your system. The idea is starting to get very, very scary. Lucky for you that you can check yourself into one of the many recovery centers set up for people like you. They’re safe havens where you’ll receive the treatment you need.
Or not.
 |
| Jeannette Turner, UT junior majoring in theatre, acts as the voice of inmates in a scene from "recovery." |
That’s the world created in The University of Toledo Department of Theatre and Film’s production of “recovery,” which opens Tuesday, Nov. 14. The play, a collaborative effort between the departments of Theatre, Film and Visual Arts, is both “an intriguing thriller and a feast for the senses,” said its director, guest artist Stacey Christodoulou.
“The play is about a group of people who have voluntarily signed themselves into a recovery center in Antarctica. At first, everything seems benign; they give up only a few things in order to be taken care of. Then things slowly change from a hospital environment to a labor camp where people have given up all their rights.”
 |
| recovery" cast members rehearse a scene. |
Written by Canadian author Greg MacArthur, the play premiered this year in Ottawa and is slated for a number of international openings. Christodoulou, who as founder of Montreal’s The Other Theatre has a longtime interest in innovative works, said, “The subversive message is there, but the play presents a very interesting story that shows the consequences of a certain line of action. And of course it’s a thriller as well — among the people in recovery, who will die and who will survive?”
The collaborative aspect of the play becomes apparent as soon as audience members enter the Center for Performing Arts. Installation art — the use of media to broaden the sensory experience of the audience — will pull the audience into the play before it begins. “We have the participation of film students, theatre students and visual arts students. The last are using projected videos and setting up their own mini-recovery center that people participate in before the show,” Christodoulou said.
“During our show, we also have a video going on when everyone sits down to watch the play. It’s a real sensory treat, with video, stills, slogans, a very dense soundtrack and lots of movement.”
Christodoulou, who founded The Other Theatre in 1991 as a permanent ensemble of theatre artists who focus on experimental works of social relevance, noted that the play is not offensive. “We’re not here to shock, but I hope that people say, ‘Wow!’ and go away wanting to talk about the ideas of the play, whether or not they agree.”
“recovery” runs Tuesday through Saturday, Nov. 14-18, at 7:30 p.m., with a 2 p.m. show Sunday, Nov. 19, in the Center for Performing Arts Studio Theatre. The installation opens at 6:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $11 for UT faculty, staff and seniors, $9 for students.
For more information, call the Theatre Box Office at 419.530.2375.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
