[SML] The more things change...

[Jon Ares]

On Wed, Apr 6, 2016 at 11:00 AM, Joe D via Stagecraft
<stagecraft at theatrical.net> wrote:
> If you are in an area without many Catholics, you can get away with Pippin, and even emphasize the anti-Catholic rhetoric in the play without much in the way of repercussions.  If you personally don't like having Catholics around, you can even use this technique to encourage those students to stay away from your program.


Here's a good example of an individual's perspective.  I know Pippin -
I have directed Pippin.  I didn't/don't see it as "anti-Catholic."
Then again, I didn't emphasize that - maybe the production you saw
did... couldn't say.  I could agree that Stephen Schwartz (a VERY
devout Christian) may have highlighted the  Catholic Church's reach of
the time period, but from MY perspective, that was not an intentional
thrust.

So much is just a matter of perspective.... one teacher I have to work
with had said we could/should never do Pippin, because it encourages
suicide.  A couple of colleagues and I had to scratch our heads for a
bit... what suicide? What is she talking about? A different show,
perhaps?  Then we realized she was referring to the ending, where the
Leading Player encourages Pippin to "give the audience what they want"
- a big, splashy finish...... by jumping into the firebox.  I never,
for even a second, thought of that as "suicide," nor did I stage it in
that sense - the show is about illusion, "magic" - and what others'
expectations may be, versus what our individual hearts want... I
cannot believe for a second any audience member walks away from the
show thinking, "Gee, that was great, and thought-provoking. I think I
shall go out in a ball of flame, as one of the characters suggested."

-- 
Jon Ares
www.arescreative.com
http://backstagethreads.com