[NEohioPAL] REVIEW: Voices From Hurt Street at Kent Stark

Tom Wachunas twachunas at yahoo.com
Thu Apr 18 03:34:28 PDT 2013


Exorcising Our Demons
By Tom Wachunas
    Let me take off the formal critic’s hat for
a bit and unashamedly tend to the heart on my sleeve. Voices From Hurt Street isn’t a conventional “play.” Physical
scenery is minimal, though the production has seared vivid images into my
consciousness. There is no linear story line or “plot,” but rather aplight -  the plight of demoralized victims and perpetrators
locked in a savage dance of sorts, caught up in the throbbing rhythms of human
cruelty.
    The
multi-genre production, directed by Brian Newberg, was written by students from
the Theatre Department at Kent State University Stark, and consists of true,
personal stories of bullying, domestic violence and other manifestations of
abusive relationships. For my part, a further description of what transpires on
stage would be tantamount to a blow-by-blow account of relentless assaults,
both literal and symbolic, physical and spiritual. Dramaturg Robert Miltner
characterizes the production in his program note as, among other things, a
fusion of “… cuttings, dialogues, monologues, memoirs, lyrical essays, short
fictions, parodies, social statements, prose poems, found poems, formal or free
verse poems, performance pieces and choral recitations.” 
    Yikes. This stage event, then, is a
daunting journey through anguished utterances. While the 12 members of the cast
perform their multiple roles with wholly believable and poignant urgency, some
theater goers may be put off by the gritty sexual content and strong “adult”
language. Putting aside for the moment the cast’s artful delivery of
heartrending drama, those seeking the pleasantries of escapist entertainment would
not be well-served.
    Willingly or not, we as audience members
are participants in this work if only to the extent that by now we’re all
acutely aware of the maladies it addresses. Like countless other works of stage
literature that present the tragedy of damaged or destroyed lives, this one
does an admirable job of identifying (here,
like an emotional battering ram)the
havoc sown and reaped by corrupted human hearts. A gruesome inventory indeed.
But  awareness alone, or a litany of
traumas in this context, no matter how powerfully presented, can be unsatisfying
if not meaningless unless it invokes lasting change or, at the very least, the
possibility of healing.
     Can
art do that? Can art be that cathartic? Should it be? This is where things
get really personal. “Drama has the power to do so many positive things,”
director Brian Newberg tells us in the conclusion of his program note, “and one
of those things is to change lives.”  I
think it’s crucial to remember that the maladies illustrated in this play are
indicative of not only our physical, mental and emotional dysfunctions, but
also compelling evidence of the terrible spiritual malaise that increasingly
afflicts our culture. It’s an affliction effectively symbolized in one scene
wherein an angry, arrogant man asserts that through all the hurt and turmoil in
his life, he sees God as detached and laughing at us. For him in this story,
and many like him outside the story, that’s a perceived truth, and a sad world
view which for me is far from The Truth. 
   That said, the production merits our
thoughtful attention to its unflinching declaration of brutalized life
experiences. Even as its vision of hope amid unspeakable suffering is
understated, it nonetheless conveys a palpable solidarity among determined survivors,
a community bound together in its pain.
    In
the end I was reminded that really meaningful healing starts with Christ-like
compassion for both the victims and those who torment them. Do unto others…Compassion isn’t a
feeling. It’s a verb.          
    Voices
From Hurt Street, at Kent State Stark Theatre (located in the Fine Arts
building), 6000 Frank Avenue NW, North Canton. Shows are Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20 at 8 p.m., Sunday,
April 21 at 2:30 p.m. Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $7 for non-Kent
State students, children under 17 and senior citizens. All Kent State students
are admitted free of charge with current student ID. Reserve tickets online at www.stark.kent.edu/theatre or call the Kent State Stark Theatre Box
Office at 330-244-3348, Mondays through Fridays from 1 to 5 p.m.
    For other reviews and commentaries by Tom
Wachunas on the performing and visual arts in Canton, please visit his blog,
ARTWACH, at  www.artwach.blogspot.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20130418/56431557/attachment-0004.htm>


More information about the NEohioPAL mailing list