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Comment on Questions for Ignorance readers, contributors, & audience by Ashley Bodiguel

Ashley Bodiguel — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 14:02:15 +0000

Thank you for your input!

Comment on Questions for Ignorance readers, contributors, & audience by Neandertaler

Neandertaler — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 02:15:42 +0000

Hi Ashley,
Here are my responses:
1. I saw several of the Trouts’ productions and loved their work. I may have found out about Ignorance directly on their website or through their newsletter. I got pretty involved in the online process (22 posts, if I’ve counted right, and quite a few comments) and eventually even ended up auditioning.
2. It was a very interesting forum for exchanging ideas, partly because we all have different understandings, beliefs and fantasies about who our distant ancestors might have been, as well as about what happiness means. It was great fun to have a collective dumping ground for some of the weird stuff I found on the net and in my head, and to read some of the whacky and/or profound things other contributors came up with. In terms of the development of the piece itself it worked less well, probably because the Trouts got too busy actually putting the play together. The last intense exchanged culminated in a heated debate about the script and particularly about the ending. That was the point when it became clear (at least for me) that the creation part of the process was best left to the creators: writer, actors, puppeteers. Editing by committee hardly ever gives satisfactory results. Too many cooks in the kitchen. Also, it’s easy to criticize from a distance: as we Flemish put it obtusely (as we Flemish will), “the best sailors are ashore.”
3. I would definitely do it again, but not necessarily with just any group. It’s not a coincidence that it took some flippant old trouts to come up with an idea as bold as this. As I said, I do believe “open creation” can only be truly open up to a point. After that it will still take some lone, brave soul to shout “enough already!” and lead that trusty band of pioneers to jubilant victory or shattering defeat. The last thing I want to say is that being a Virtual Participant in the process changed the experience of watching the show for me. There are, of course, no Spoiler Alerts on the blog. Then again, I felt quite privileged to witness what these people were able to craft out of all these random ramblings! And humbled to think how right they had been about that Smiley Balloon…

Comment on But what about recent research? by Judd Trout

Judd Trout — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:52:28 +0000

Sorry to take so long to respond… we’ve been having some drastic technical issues with the website. At any rate: bless your heart for writing. Here’s a defense: the connectedness and contentedness described by Sex at Dawn (okay, I keep meaning to read that one, but I haven’t, so I’m kind of going off what you say about it) could well have existed — but the play is about the moment we stepped away from it. The characters are doing exactly what you describe — leaving their natural environment and social system behind. Now, whether the natural environment and social system were an Edenic bliss or not, I’m not sure. I was pretty inspired by Freud’s view of it in Totem and Taboo — obviously not current research, for sure. In his version, if I can sum it up, the social system was totally triangular, with the ‘primal father’ on top, and the first revolution (in which the mateless younger males gang up on the big guy) liberated us at the same time as it destroyed our sense of security and social coherence (once you kill the king, you realize that kings can be killed). As far as I know, Freud didn’t have a whole lot to say about what all this meant for the women, but I think something big and dreadful probably happened when we realized the connection between sex and pregnancy… women had previously been goddesses walking amongst us, spontaneously creating life (probably pregnant from the moment they were fertile until their deaths), and then suddenly the ugly hierarchies of male socialization got involved. Point being: somewhere in there anxiety and neurosis got invented, and while you might debate when and how it happened, it’s pretty clear that it did happen. Or maybe the entire evolutionary chain of being is wracked with angst — it could be that the fall-from-paradise idea (of which I take Sex at Dawn to be a variation) is wishful thinking — another way our imaginations plague us with a sense that the world isn’t as it should be, but might be, or once was.

I mean, I think there’s tons to be said about how we’re physically and emotionally designed for a different world, but I’m not totally sure that we were ever really at home in the old world, either.

But the main thing is that it’s interesting and entertaining to speculate about the whole thing. Not to be facile, but we’re pretty happy if we got to start some great conversations.

Comment on Ignorance at the Roxy by Smell

Smell — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 04:53:13 +0000

Amazing!
The props, the puppets, the performers, the lights, the sounds, the balloons and the creativity were absolutely wonderful! However, to me, the best aspect of the show was the message it portrayed. I left the theatre feeling incredibly inspired and optimistic about life! Every single person should see this to be reminded that happiness is right in front of us and we are all striving to achieve something that will never come to us. In a western culture full of pressure to become wealthy and “succeed”, one must remember that these are not measures of “happiness” and there is nothing that will give us that full contentment of life other than living for the present moment and accepting all emotions we experience.
I will be thinking about this play for days to come and I have no doubt it will keep me inspired through tougher times in life.
This play definitely triggered the “happiness hormones” in my brain. I hope everyone is able to have this experience as well!

Comment on Ignorance at the Roxy by Smell

Smell — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 04:51:46 +0000

Amazing!
The props, the puppets, the performers, the lights, the sounds, the balloons and the creativity were absolutely wonderful! However, to me, the best aspect of the show was the message it portayed. I came home feeling incredibly inspired and optimistic about life! Every single person should see this to be reminded that happiness is right in front of us and we are all striving to achieve something that will never come to us. In a western culture full of pressure to become wealthy and “succeed”, one must remember that these are not measures of “happiness” and there is nothing that will give us that full contentment of life other than living for the present moment and accepting all emotions we experience.
I will be thinking about this play for days to come and I have no doubt it will keep me inspired through tougher times in life.
This play definitely triggered the “happiness hormones” in my brain. I hope everyone is able to have this experience as well!

Comment on It lives! by Neandertaler

Neandertaler — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 05:55:09 +0000

And how!
I just came back from watching it. What a great show! Loved the set, the puppets, the amazing acting work and the way the story came together. I’ve always had a thing for puppets, but I didn’t think I could get a lump in my throat watching a prehistoric one –whose language I couldn’t even understand– breathe his last…
Congratulations to you all. You’ve outdone yourselves, once again!

Comment on Hideous Purple Tentacle Beast by Ter. E

Ter. E — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 02:25:12 +0000

Right! Just like the animals that powered all the Flintstones technology would say, with a shrug… they weren’t pursuing happiness, they were slugging it out every day being vacuum cleaners and phonographs and anything else that hadn’t been invented yet. It is permissible to continue with this gag, and have our early humans use caverats as mobile phones or tablet computers, etcetera. Yuks such as these are important micro-narratives that say important things about who we are.

Comment on Hideous Purple Tentacle Beast by Mitochondrial Eva

Mitochondrial Eva — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:06:20 +0000

It’s a-living…

Comment on Hideous Purple Tentacle Beast by Ter. E

Ter. E — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 01:24:17 +0000

At some point could we have the ribs heave and sigh, like the beast is not quite dead yet? Let’s hear it for survival!

Comment on Hideous Purple Tentacle Beast by Mitochondrial Eva

Mitochondrial Eva — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:12:02 +0000

Mmmmmm lovely… now bedazzle that thing with cowrie shells already!!!