Theatre Review: Bread and Puppet Theater's "Cardboard Circus"
April 9, 2004; Blackman Auditorium, Northeastern University
* * * 1/2 (out of 4)
I feel so liberal right now. I sit here listening to Air America Radio, and I'm still thinking about the performance I saw last night. Northeastern was visited by the Bread and Puppet theatre group. This group, founded in 1963 and based in Vermont, uses puppets, slapstick, music, and humor to amuse their audiences, and make them deal with the current issues of the day. Due to their very leftist persuasion, their current show focuses in on President Bush's platform, essentially ripping apart every contraversial or failed decision he's ever made (and as they see it, there's a lot of them). They succeed in opening these issues up to the audience, and inciting all sorts of laughter, and they do it with class.
This performance was titled "The Victory Over Everything Circus. The show is organized into a series of short "acts." Each act deals with a certain aspect of the current state of affairs, ranging from the war in Iraq, "No Child Left Behind," Bush's dead-horse of an education act, the economic instability, and a variety of others. These are serious topics, but the group presented each one with a flair and style more common to a variety show than any sort of political forum. Their "puppets" are for the most part full-body or -torso paper-mache costumes, led by three man in janitor's clothes whose masks bore a striking resemblance to the Chief himself. One of the metaphors that the show pushed was that these janitors, essentially clueless figureheads, had no idea what they were doing, never able to adequately clean whatever they tried to clean. Other skits involve literally beating the crap out of an "oil-rich dictatorship" in response to the U.S.'s plummetting stock market, and shots the FCC and conservative media.
The show was bolstered by the presence of a live brass band, that kept the pace flowing and energetic through every scene. Also heartening was the call for volunteers in the days leading up to the performance, resulting in 10 or 20 Northeastern students being active participants in the skits, performing roles as a politician's entourage, the children in the aforementioned education skit, and the army that declares victory over everything.
This is a show not to be missed... if you share the company's views. If you have any support in your heart for Bush Jr. or anyone within his administration, it's more than likely you'll be offended here, unless you can look at it purely objectively. But then, looking at this group's work purely objectively would not only destroy the point, but also make it a lot less fun. And that's what it is, above all: all sorts of fun. Crazy characters and situations presented by people who truly love and believe in what they're doing. Well done.
April 9, 2004; Blackman Auditorium, Northeastern University
* * * 1/2 (out of 4)
I feel so liberal right now. I sit here listening to Air America Radio, and I'm still thinking about the performance I saw last night. Northeastern was visited by the Bread and Puppet theatre group. This group, founded in 1963 and based in Vermont, uses puppets, slapstick, music, and humor to amuse their audiences, and make them deal with the current issues of the day. Due to their very leftist persuasion, their current show focuses in on President Bush's platform, essentially ripping apart every contraversial or failed decision he's ever made (and as they see it, there's a lot of them). They succeed in opening these issues up to the audience, and inciting all sorts of laughter, and they do it with class.
This performance was titled "The Victory Over Everything Circus. The show is organized into a series of short "acts." Each act deals with a certain aspect of the current state of affairs, ranging from the war in Iraq, "No Child Left Behind," Bush's dead-horse of an education act, the economic instability, and a variety of others. These are serious topics, but the group presented each one with a flair and style more common to a variety show than any sort of political forum. Their "puppets" are for the most part full-body or -torso paper-mache costumes, led by three man in janitor's clothes whose masks bore a striking resemblance to the Chief himself. One of the metaphors that the show pushed was that these janitors, essentially clueless figureheads, had no idea what they were doing, never able to adequately clean whatever they tried to clean. Other skits involve literally beating the crap out of an "oil-rich dictatorship" in response to the U.S.'s plummetting stock market, and shots the FCC and conservative media.
The show was bolstered by the presence of a live brass band, that kept the pace flowing and energetic through every scene. Also heartening was the call for volunteers in the days leading up to the performance, resulting in 10 or 20 Northeastern students being active participants in the skits, performing roles as a politician's entourage, the children in the aforementioned education skit, and the army that declares victory over everything.
This is a show not to be missed... if you share the company's views. If you have any support in your heart for Bush Jr. or anyone within his administration, it's more than likely you'll be offended here, unless you can look at it purely objectively. But then, looking at this group's work purely objectively would not only destroy the point, but also make it a lot less fun. And that's what it is, above all: all sorts of fun. Crazy characters and situations presented by people who truly love and believe in what they're doing. Well done.
posted by Matt S. at
7:05 PM
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