The first act is uproariously funny! The second act is very funny also but I got to a point where I found myself not laughing. It's not because it wasn't funny, but because it dealt with an issue that... that really put me into a funk that I'm still dealing with this afternoon. I'm not going to give you a synapsis but just set the scene so that you may better understand what has "challenged" me and that maybe you might understand the two exhanges in the second act that set me thinking.
The play takes place in an unkown country in Africa. The characters are either native to the country or Americans who are there for one of two reasons: 1) missionary work or 2) running a large successful business that makes lots of money. The native characters are a rebellious teenager, the Doctor, a governmental minister [Aunt Mimi] and two armed soldiers. The characters fit into their respective positions well.
Over the course of the first act the stage is set for the confrontations that happen in the second act. The young missionary disappears and everyone comes to think that he has been killed by either the teenager or the rebel organization of which he may be part. At any rate, they believe that the teenager knows what happened.
He, of course, refuses to say anything. Aunt Mimi, the minister, in what could be interpreted as how a backwater country would behave, believes that the only way they are going to get the boy to talk is through torture. There is much arguing back and forth between the characters but, being the country is a democracy, Aunt Mimi says they should decide it democratically with input from all and a vote.
The missionary's girlfriend goes into a rage at not just the thought of torture but the idea of voting democratically about it. The arguing continues while the voting is in process. This leads the Doctor to make the following observation:
"The biggest problem with democracy is that it takes too much time."
This is the point in the play that started my funk.
The second exchange happens very quickly after it. When the "vote" is a tie, the missionary's girlfriend goes into a tirade about what is happening and how it is being done. She screams,
"Where I come from we don't do this sort of thing."
Aunt Mimi looks at her, walks over to one of the soldiers, takes his tazer from him, walks back to center stage, holds the end of the device directly in front of her and reads,
"Made in Lansing, Michigan, U.S.A.."
and doesn't say another word.
These two exchanges have my head spinning round and round. The only time this morning that I didn't think about them was when I was at the gym. Otherwise, I can't get them out of my mind.
I cannot define what exactly is going through my head. I am disgusted? I am dismayed? I am distraught? I am.... I don't know.
The friend I went with also thought that the second act wasn't as funny but observed that people in the audience were still laughing. He wondered if it wasn't nervous laughter because of how close to home it hit. With the things happening in the political sphere in the U.S., it certainly hits close to home.
I also think that it may have touched a nerve for me about my pacifism. Since Vietnam, I have been an out and out unapologetic pacifist. I don't believe that anyone has the right to take another person's life for any reason whatsoever. I think of capitol punishment as legalized murder. I also believe strongly that no one has the right to do anything that can harm another person in any way.
At the same time, I have never been in the position where someone I love dearly has been murdered or harmed or killed, so, I have often wondered that if I were, would it change my mind. I don't know. I would hope that I would be able to stick to my belief no matter how difficult. I think this transferred over to the play. If someone I loved very much was missing, would I also think that torture would be acceptable. Again, I would hope that I would be able to say, "No."
I may also be feeling helpless in the face of all the things happening in the world. I have no say. I have no power. I have no alternatives. I have a core set of values in which I strongly believe, but what difference do they make?
what do you think?
just asking...
again, if you have a chance, go and see the play. it is well worth it.click here for tickets: Steppenwolf Box Office
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