Last week when I read Mac Wellman’s Antigone, I had a hard time deciphering why I couldn’t connect with the piece. Following our discussion in class, I realized how much I must relish each part of the play’s puzzle, as everything is integral. Even just hearing the words aloud helped to better bring the story to my mind’s eye. But one of the things in our discussion that intrigued me most was the reference to the play’s silences. We live in a culture where silences are seldom savored, so to allow myself to accept and enjoy the silences of the play opened up a whole new way of reading.
This weekend I saw a fantastic film called Drive directed by Nicholas Winding Refn. There are maybe 25 lines of dialogue, at most, in the entire film and the rest is made up of visuals and sound. I found such a deep appreciation for the silences in the movie after our discussion. Unlike Malick’s The Tree of Life, which is also comprised of little dialogue, Refn’s film is a MUST SEE!
Now that I’ve plugged my latest cinematic love, I will bring the subject of silence to more theatrical relevance. As the entire world is well aware, earlier this month we commemorated the 10th anniversary of September 11th. Over the last 10 years, playwrights have struggled to deal with the turmoil of the events of September 11th, and many have not been able to find the words. However, this month two plays are premiering (for very short runs) that attempt to expose the beauty of “not knowing what to say when the impulse is still to keep talking”. Richard Nelson’s Sweet and Sad and Jonas Hassen Khemiri’s Invasion! have been long in the process of coming to fruition, but both playwrights needed the silence to better understand the beauty of not knowing what comes next. We live in a culture where silences are deafened by cell phones, televisions, cars, radios, ipods, trains, planes, etc. And when we’re not being effected by outside sounds and noises, we’re creating the lack of silence ourselves. There’s a great fear in the silence, but also an excitement. Though I haven’t seen either of these productions, I wish I could because the whole concept of trying to fill the void is enticing me these days. What if we just stopped. For a minute or two.
Anyway, check out the NYTimes Arts Beat blog above, and if you get a chance to make it to the movies this weekend, go see Drive!
