In the Beginning by Neil Labute is the play we are studying
for the political theatre term. Essentially the play explores the complex
relationship between two characters: child and parent - with the underlying
themes of protesting and apathy. The play is only 12 pages long and has 2
different endings, and in my opinion the second alternate ending is the much
better option of the two.
The naming of the characters is very interesting in my
opinion, because some could argue that Parent and Child seem to be
representative of the characters’ positions in society and their stereotype - a
significant element in Bertolt Brecht’s work.
The text reads very naturalistically and has a strong sense
of flow, and also Labute states the play is set “In a room,” which left our
class a wide range of places and venues available to base the piece in. It
should be noted that the playwright entirely gives this piece over to the
actor: it has an alternative ending, an open setting and no detailed character
analysis is given. There is even a “Good luck!” message at the end. Personally I found this quite humorous and in a way gave me an unprofessional impression
of the playwright. However I also believe that the playwright Neil Labute has
done this intentionally to set the performers approaching this text at ease and
to exemplify the openness of the piece: we can literally do what we want with
it.
The lines begin very short and to the point - straight into
the action of the piece and stage directions are minimal if not non-existent in
this piece, and the stage directions that are there are as basic as could be -
for example “The child hugs the parent”. These allow for more experimentation
of the performers, and also reflect Brecht’s belief in being unemotionally
attached to characters and defamiliarization with the text.
Overall I really like the text and in my opinion it will be
very effective in terms of rounding off the 'political theatre' term.
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