Beitrag 6 von 33 Beiträgen. |
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Verfasser: shana Datum: Samstag, den 11. Oktober 2008, um 20:24 Uhr Betrifft: Was heisst etwas weit hergeholt?
Ein Theaterstück halt und zwar eines über das Alltagsgesicht (die Banalität? die Normalität?) des Bösen. Mörder wie wir/Du und ich .. sozusagen
Neil LaBute hat halt als damals (1999) Noch-Mormone über sein ihm vertrautes Umfeld geschrieben, sprich seine Figuren und Geschichten in einem ihm bekannten Milieu angesiedelt. Wozu in die Ferne schweifen, wenn das gute liegt so nah ...
Und obwohl die Handlung ja so weit oder etwas weit hergeholt ist, haben sich ja scheinbar doch ein paar Kirchenobere durchaus angesprochen gefühlt - natürlich wie üblich nur aus PR-Gründen .... und darauf erstmal mit Gemeinschaftsentzug geantwortet und zwar genau auf das von Dir erwähnte Stück Bash hin.
Aber wozu spekulieren/wild interpretieren, hier der Autor selbst:
"Perhaps there would be more work that was centered around the church if so early in my professional career I hadnât been asked [by church leaders] to no longer write Mormon characters. That happened because of âbash,â a play that I did in about â99, during that period where I was disfellowshiped [because of concerns about the play]. I have at least followed their recommendation to not write about Mormons; I set that aside and really havenât delved into that world any more. But being around the church, being around people who are in the church, having that influence early on in what were still formative years, in college, canât help but inform who you are and what you write."
"RW: So why did you choose Mormon characters in âbashâ?
NL: Even after it was under scrutiny, I never personally felt that the piece was any kind of attack on the church. Even though the four characters have some contact with the churchâitâs fairly tenuous in the Medea piece, she mentions Utah relatives, but thereâs not anything to suggest sheâs a churchgoing member. But because they all seemed to have that connection to the church, I guess people could read that as being all-consuming, as if someone who saw the piece would say, âWell, this is what Mormons are like then.â I think thatâs dangerous in any context: to watch âFiddler on the Roof,â for example, and say, âWell, there are so many Jews out there, that must be exactly what Jews are like,â whether or not itâs dangerous, is ill-advised simply because itâs not very smart thinking.
That said, I felt like I could give the thing some resonance, and give it some truth, by filling it with language that was specific to the rituals of the church, the dynamics of the church. That seemed the best route to go, at the time. I wanted to juxtapose people who, ironically, the world would look at and say, âWe think of them as good people, in a broad way, we think of them as good, church-going folk.â
The point was not that they were also blood-thirsty killers, but that going to church, and having a testimonyâor being around those who doâis not insurance against having choices appear in your life that cause you to go the wrong way, to falter or even to fall. It seemed like an honest and interesting juxtaposition to me, but one that ultimately, I think, the church saw as damaging.
Interestingly, it was not necessarily even the play itself that was damaging. But the headline of a review in, say, San Diego could be âMurderous Mormons,â and that would be the first contact someone might have with the churchâwhich is just sort of out my jurisdiction, out of my hands. You give the rights to somebody and they do it, and the drama critic in that town writes a review, and the person who writes the headlines for that paper ⦠and it creates that domino effect so that then some reader one morning along the way goes, âWow, I didnât know Mormons were so savage.â Thatâs one of those unfortunate things that can happen; when it does, you stand by the work, or you say, âGee, I never meant for that to happen.â I guess I did both. And ultimately I did also comply with church leadersâ requests, and say, âYou know, I wonât write any more of those characters.â I never felt that I had that much to explore; I didnât grow up Mormon, I didnât think I had so many stories I needed to tell about the church."