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| Sunday, July 29, 2007 |
| Marat/Sade |
One of Ata's Actoring Associates is in a local production of Marat/Sade.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marat/Sade
When the play was in rehearsal, he asked Ata if she would like to be in it. Ata said no. On the grounds that she'd had her fill of playing asylum patients.
Now the play is in performance, and Ata quietly ignored the email that came around with performance details, on the grounds that she had had friends perform Marat/Sade in the past, and study it as a text at school, so she had a rough idea of the content. Do you ever see something advertised, and think - "Now, that just doesn't appeal to me." Given that the Marquis de Sade is, as the story goes, the man who inspired the term 'sadism', Ata decided long ago that Marat/Sade was one play she just might miss.
On seeing this particular actoring friend yesterday, Ata was offered a comp ticket to see Marat/Sade. This is something of a compliment - comp. tickets are usually handed out very sparingly, if at all. Actors may get one or two to give away, if they are lucky. Problem is, Ata still doesn't want to see Marat/Sade. She politely thanked her Associate, and turned him down.
Now, this morning, Ata got an email from this particular Associate - explaining that he really really wants her to see this play. That it's a quality play. That the actors are very good. Ata does not dispute this, but here's the basic issue - Ata does not want to see Marat/Sade. She strongly suspects she will walk away depressed and carrying images in her head she just doesn't want to carry. It took a long time for the horror that was A Clockwork Orange to fade in the back of Ata's skull - she doesn't need live action violence to replace it. But now, of course, it's an issue. Ata has been ungracious enough to turn down a comp ticket, and now - if she wants to continue not seeing Marat/Sade - she must be even more firmly rude and insist that she just doesn't want to see it. Once someone has said, "I really want you to see this, I think it's valuable and important and you should see it", it sounds incredibly childish to continuing refusing. So - do I go with feeling childish and petty, or spineless and cowardly? |
posted by Ata @ 10:15 am  |
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| 3 Comments: |
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I actually studied it in literature at some point during my degree, and it's not actually that sexual. Promise! It's more political, actually.
I say go and see it. How bad can it really be?
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It's not the sex, really, it's the violence... oh, I don't know. We may go see it.
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I gave in. We're going to the second night performance. (Sigh) I just hate it when stuff becomes an ISSUE... you know, someone tries to talk you into something, and then you can't maintain your original answer without being stubborn and you can't change your mind without sounding like you're only doing it because they hassled you enough... both of which are in fact true (I AM giving in because I got hassled enough), but it still annoys me. See, if it were me doing the inviting, I would now be quite convinced that regardless of what my invitee says, they're only doing it to please me and their opinions and feedback are therefore useless.
Plus, I'm going to see live violence and probable nudity, and I just know I'm going to be depressed afterward.
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I actually studied it in literature at some point during my degree, and it's not actually that sexual. Promise! It's more political, actually.
I say go and see it. How bad can it really be?