Tuesday, April 24, 2007

When Faith Darkens Our Path

"Efforts to restore Afghanistan's legendary Bamiyan Buddhas are moving forward at a snail's pace, a far cry from the few days it took the Taliban to destroy the 1,500-year-old statues." CBC 04/23/07

Click here to read the complete article.

"Celebrated storyteller Mike Daisey had barely begun his 90-minute monologue at the American Repertory Theatre when much of the audience suddenly stood up and walked out. One of the put-upon patrons even picked up a glass of water used as an on-stage prop and poured it over Daisey's papers. The problem? The posse, 87 students and staff visiting Thursday from Norco High School in Southern California, objected to Daisey's dirty language." - Boston Globe 04/23/07

Click here to read the complete article.

Now I haven’t heard Mike Daisey’s monologue, so I’m not even sure if I’d enjoy it; but after reading the two articles, from an artistic standpoint – what is the difference in how the religious majority handled creative works? – DN

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I watched a segment of it on www.rocketboom.com . I thought it was staged. From what I saw, if this was for real, bad manners on the part of the audience and why would you be there? if not expecting that type of routine. Stupid is as stupid does.

Anonymous said...

I've not heard the guy's monologue either and I agree, the walk out was a bit rude but maybe they weren't expecting to hear the vulgarity (if indeed it was). I'm suddenly remembering a certain poetry reading at the Arts Council that I was "manning" while Bossman D was away. Needless to say, I was elbow to elbow with every conservative Board member, little old lady, and various University staffers when out of the blue the whole evening took a turn for the unexpected and "dirty". I'm pretty sure my face was as red as everyone elses was during the poem about a cucumber as a sex toy.... and the one about farts wasn't too great either. I probably would have walked out if I hadn't been responsible for turning out the lights at the end of the night.

danielnorth.com said...

The full article states that the school was made aware of the profanity and chose to purchase the tickets anyway. - DN