Sunday, August 17, 2008

A Platonic Performance?

So, new developments. I am thinking of staging Socrates.

Why, you ask?

Well, I don't want to do it - boring style. I am not merely putting words to Plato's texts. I feel I need to try this sort of mad-directorness that Castorf is so good at and 'direct' the Dialogues to make something theatrical out of them. I will have to a) choose a dialogue, I wanted Phaedo for sheer dramatic capacity, but it's Phaedo talking the whole time and I'd have to transcribe the dialogue and that would take so long and I am too lazy. But the other stuff becomes very, how do you say...philosophical? No shit. I am trying to figure out a way to stage - or a vision with which to treat the texts that will completely subvert them. It's not so difficult - after all, if Plato's biggest problem is the dramatization that distracts from the real forms of the world, why dont we just dramatize the shit out of this play?

then again, this is work. I mean, serious - sit down with a text and have the director's cap on and a lot of close reading sort of work...goddamn it - why couldn't I have been a painter instead?

- J

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hey, man... in my humble opinion, the dialogue of Plato that would most fruitfully be adapted to the stage and would offer a range of characters, an organic overarching sense of narrative (insofar as there is a beginning, middle, and end to action which serves as the dramatic context to the philosophical dialogue), and an absolutely amazing theme, would be Symposium.

I mean, can you imagine the physically-hideous Socrates qua Eros at a banquet with the cream of Greek intellectuals and socialites speaking on none other than Love itself!?