Oct 31 2012
Perhaps a little too much?
http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/theater/reviews/builders-associations-house-divided-at-bam.html
The day I went to watch House/Divided was full of first time experiences: first time eating at Shake Shack, first time figuring out how to get to Brooklyn, first time to BAM, and first time watching an augmented reality theater performance. When the professor first introduced House/Divided to the class, all I knew was that it is going to be a very experimental piece. As a person who is more used to traditional form of arts I have to confess I was not as excited as I was before watching the opera Carmen. But, since you never know what New York has to offer, I tried to attend with anticipation and interest.
The way to BAM was not an easy experience. From almost getting lost to climbing up all the stairs, I tried to imagine the magnificence of the real life size house to keep myself motivated. When I finally got up, seeing the skeleton of the house, I was very disappointed at first. However, when they projected the house on the transparent screens, I could not close my mouth out of excitement. I should have realized at that moment that it was only the beginning of all the technological wonders the performance was about to bring.
Only having the slightest knowledge of John Steinbeck’s work, I had to concentrate so much to understand, absorb the knowledge as well as notice the details that draws parallelism between current economic situation and situation back then. After getting a hold of the storyline and the pattern I couldn’t help but draw my attention to all the other elements of the performance.
From the staggering recreation of the stock exchange, projection, houses, props, lights to acting, I could not imagine how much these people worked to make all this possible. What especially caught my attention was the use of real time video shots of their actings on the screen. I tried excessively to find the camera, calculating the possible angles but the effort was futile. Having seen some TED performances using recorded video footages and acting like its being filmed at the moment to trick people (in a positive way) I was so curious whether it would be the same for House/Divided but the acting and the video were without discrepancies I hardly believe it was prerecorded.
The overall experience was surreal and amazing but only criticism I would give is that they tried to implement so much at the same time things seemed to be slightly off hand. Although it was my first view, I realized quite a lot of mistakes including acting and technological difficulties. And as a viewer, I couldn’t help but feel slightly overwhelmed by the massive amount of information, whether visual or audio, they were trying to deliver. But then I realized that their efforts to take control of everything seemed to draw comparison to my life in general as well. Trying out all that there is and what I can do, figuring out what works or does not work, trying to implement everything all at once, I have felt like I’ve fallen apart, triggering adverse effects.
I’m not saying it was a disaster but I think sometimes it needs time to get used to it. And it is the effort that counts toward a new era of performance.
I was also let down upon seeing the skeleton of the house. I thought it would be bigger and more life like maybe. Also, I found myself looking for the cameras during the action shots as well. I still can’t tell if they were using cameras to film them or if it was prerecorded since they did these scenes with such precision.