Slawomir Mrozek's "Out At Sea" 11./2/18

Описание: George Washington High School VAPA proudly presents: "Out At Sea"

All three of Slawomir Mrozek's plays presented this evening, "Out At Sea", "Charlie", and "Serenade" share a common theme, that of death. All three plots revolve around cannibalism and murder. Morbid though these themes might appear at their surface, they are but metaphors. All three of these plays are meant to be humorous, regenerative, even, if at times, they seem anything but funny; they intend to uncover deeper truths.

Johnathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" first posed "eating people' as the solution to a crisis in 1729. In Swift's story, his suggestion is ironic; in "Out At Sea", Mrozek's is also being
"tounge and cheek". However, through his metaphor of cannibalism and murder, Mrozek would have audiences face an uncomfortable truth: the inhumanity of humanity. How far might we go in the face of crisis? To what deceptions, manipulations, and tactics might we resort to in order to live? How deep is our own survival instinct? Would we sacrifice ourselves, as our revered heroes have done or would we take a different path? What indecencies might we tolerate or perpetrate in the name of survival? One sees additional similarities in "Out At Sea" to our own recent elections. Like the electoral process portrayed in the play, our elections have also been guided by meaner-spirits, personal attacks and half-truths. In the end, Thin's selection is metaphorical: yes, he is to be killed and consumed, but his death has larger ramifications. His is the death of decency and of democracy; his death is fair warning to us all.

Equally distressing is the debate at the core of "Charlie"; the play debates a topic similar to one in our world: gun ownership. Who has the "right" to own a firearm? To what extent, to what peril, need we protect this right? In "Charlie", the right to own a gun becomes conflated with the right to shoot one- at anyone- that gun owner deems necessary- or possible. This truth reverberates, like a howitzer blast, through our own world. "Grandpa" becomes a metaphor, a symbol, of our obsession and complaisance both; his death is the death of righteousness and common sense.

"Serenade's" metaphor may seem simplest of all: "Beware the fox near your henhouse." Loud, didactic, overbearing, the Rooster, the Father figure in "Serenade", may not be the best of rulers. However, he does fight to keep his roost "safe" from the infiltrating Fox. Despite his efforts, his daughters deceive and betray his wishes. He pays the price for their lapses in judgement. His death might be seen as the death of authority, order, and loyalty.

Program Notes:
"Out At Sea"- 3:11
"Charlie"- 40:30
"Serenade"- 1:12:30