Some people are crazy.

So I'm directing this show, 4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane. [WARNING: I'm about to pimp this shit.] It runs December 2-4 and 9-12 at Art Six (424 Bryan) in Denton, Texas. If you're around, you should see it. I love Sarah Kane, but some people don't. I understand it, particularly if you only read her early work. It's easy to read it as "shock for shock's sake," but I don't see it that way. I think you can find real humanity and hope in her work, as well as some deep, raw, depressing emotions that should ring true for every person, regardless of whether you've ever felt depression.

Woah. That last sentence was not grammatically correct. But you know what I'm saying. ANYWAY. Enough with that. I'm still here to talk about Sarah Kane... but only because in my research, I found some SUPER FUCKING CRAZY people who love her. These people are the reason why people don't like Sarah Kane. Let me show what you what I've found. (NOTE: These are from discussion boards. I've redacted any names to protect the insane.)

Ever since i read 4.48 i have been thinking how i would stage it.
I'd begin casually by passing a kitten around the audience. They would play with the cat and see how cute it is. The curtains would open reveling a complex stage including a huge clock that didnt tell the time but instead counted towards 04.48. From the clock would be a series of wires and car batteries connected to a metal cage. The kitten would then be put in the cage. The play would start at 3.48 and the finish exactly at 4.48. at 4.48 the kitten would be electrocuted which the audience would be made aware of as the play went on.
The kitten would put the audience on edge throughout the performance. "Will the kill the cat?" "Is this legal?" "Should i walk out?" "should i call the police?". The cat is a metaphor for suffering and metal illness. What better way of showing depression than showing death a poisoned minds. An actual play involving real danger, real fear.
And at 4.48 - would i actually kill the cat?
Maybe
...yeah i think i would. Call me sick but i think that would be real art. REAL theatre.

Um. WHAT?!? Now, I'm a person who thinks that theatre (or really, art in general) is all about opinion; if someone says it's theatre, it's theatre. It's just a matter of whether it's good or bad theatre IN YOUR OPINION. So, based on that, I'd go ahead and say that the above statement would be bad theatre. ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO KILL A CAT?!?! Also, what does "real theatre" even mean? Crazy. Crazy person. Speaking of crazy...

Imagine, if you will...... colostomy bags bursting, drip feeds crashing, sh*t everywhere, teeth falling away, tumors oozing, pools of stinking opulence.

Oh, I'm imagining it. I'm also imagining your CRAZY, CRAZY FACE. Are we reading the same play? Maybe I'm the one who is confused, because this next guy thought that this would be a good image:

cartoon of a head with a dotted line across the neck with CUT HERE written beside it and the sign of a pair of scissors or a cutting knife beside it

Well, of course. OF COURSE there would be a CARTOON onstage for a show about suicide. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!?

Sigh. Listen, all you theatre people: when you choose to produce something just to SHOCK people, it'll suck. If there are shocking images in a production that you TRULY believe in staging, then it's worth doing. Good theatre always has heart behind it.

I don't really have anywhere to go with this blogsby. I just couldn't believe these batshit people, and had to share. So come see my show! It'll be kinda crazy, but in a good way. Not in a "I'ma kill a cat, bitches" way.