Jean-Claude van Itallie’s The Serpent takes monumental parts of history from the book of Genesis to the American 60s and combines them to create a packed play. My theatre experience of this production was loud, uncomfortable, and monotonous. There would be music, screaming, and a narrator all going on at the same time. This made it hard to hear the person talking, which I needed in order to understand what was happening. At one point, the room was loud enough that my ears were ringing once it became quiet. My experience was uncomfortable due to all of the sexual movements. At the end of the production, the actors appeared to have an orgy while wearing clothes. They were grinding and groping each other all over. They did not physically touch
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There were certain parts of the play that I understood such as Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and the shootings of Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) and John F. Kennedy (JFK). The way that the events were presented were hard for me to understand especially when the events were repeated. During the shootings, the actors would strike eight different poses in sequence as well as out of order. It confused me as to why this would be repeated for an extended period of time instead of the play just continuing with another scene.When there was dialogue, it was short, repetitive sentences that did not help bring the events from the book of Genesis together with the American 60s. Many times, the actors performed seizures and convulsions, which added to the confusion as the reason for them was never addressed in the play. The hanging ring in the middle of the stage, or the lyra, created another visual element with people performing acrobatic tricks. The movements with the lyra provided me relief from the main event that was occurring in the …show more content…
I would not recommend this production to my family and friends. I was very uncomfortable for much of the play due to many exaggerated sexual gestures that occurred throughout the play. Also, the storyline does not make sense, and the scenes are very repetitive. This makes the production boring as I could not keep my attention on what was happening in the play. I believe there are more understandable and comfortable plays to
There were certain parts of the play that I understood such as Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and the shootings of Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) and John F. Kennedy (JFK). The way that the events were presented were hard for me to understand especially when the events were repeated. During the shootings, the actors would strike eight different poses in sequence as well as out of order. It confused me as to why this would be repeated for an extended period of time instead of the play just continuing with another scene.When there was dialogue, it was short, repetitive sentences that did not help bring the events from the book of Genesis together with the American 60s. Many times, the actors performed seizures and convulsions, which added to the confusion as the reason for them was never addressed in the play. The hanging ring in the middle of the stage, or the lyra, created another visual element with people performing acrobatic tricks. The movements with the lyra provided me relief from the main event that was occurring in the …show more content…
I would not recommend this production to my family and friends. I was very uncomfortable for much of the play due to many exaggerated sexual gestures that occurred throughout the play. Also, the storyline does not make sense, and the scenes are very repetitive. This makes the production boring as I could not keep my attention on what was happening in the play. I believe there are more understandable and comfortable plays to