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| Abu Ghraib - The Musical! Live Onstage! No, Really! | ||
| 2005-05-12 | ||
| Since the theater's beginnings in ancient Greece, playwrights have used the stage to explore complex ethical issues and portray disturbing current events. It is a practice that continues into the present day with works like Athol Fugard's "Master Harold ... and the Boys" and Tony Kushner's "Angels in America." On May 12, the Loeb Experimental Theatre will premier a work by a Harvard undergraduate that carries on that tradition. "Abu Ghraib," written and directed by sophomore Currun Singh, probes the meaning of the 2004 prisoner abuse scandal using a combination of dialogue, film, music, and dance. Singh, a social studies concentrator who has participated in student theatrical productions both onstage and behind the scenes since his freshman year, said that the idea for a play based on Abu Ghraib evolved out of the shock and dismay he and fellow students felt as the news story unfolded. His concern about human rights and about tensions in the Middle East also contributed to the creative ferment, as did his desire to work on a production that dealt with more serious issues. "I wanted it to be a serious piece," he said, "a call to action."
The question of how ordinary people can commit unspeakable acts became one of the central issues not only for Singh and Ngiam but for all the students working on the production. Through group discussions and rehearsals, the play developed and changed, propelling the participants through a rollercoaster ride of feelings. "In rehearsal we tried to simulate what had happened, and sometimes it just ended up being funny, obviously because this wasn't the real thing, it was just a play. The experience could be very confusing and disturbing," Singh said. In the play, characters based on real Abu Ghraib military personnel whose names have since become well known - people like Spc. Charles Graner, Pvt. Lynndie England, and Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski - talk casually amongst themselves and intimidate and humiliate the Iraqi prisoners. But the play does what neither the leaked photos, the media reports, nor the military trial have been able to do - namely, to apply invented but plausible identities to the anonymous Iraqi torture victims whose naked bodies have become all-too-familiar over the past year. In key scenes, the prisoners talk about their past lives, how and why they were captured, and how their consciousness has been changed by the treatment they have received. In some respects, these are the most moving and revelatory scenes in the play because they remind us that these unfortunate individuals have families, friends, careers, personal histories, and, above all, human feelings.
Singh, a first-time director and playwright, acknowledges that the production could not have reached its present state without the help of the Denver-based group Show-Up Productions How will Singh know if he's succeeded? He has a pretty good idea of the effect he wants his production to have on the audience. "If they come out slightly uncomfortable, shocked, and motivated to | ||
| Posted by:Steve |
| #20 Go Gromit! Voice of Helena Bonham Carter Any relation to the Asquith one? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-05-12 17:31 |
| #19 shooting star! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-05-12 17:03 |
| #18 Yes, Google really is our friend... Currun Singh '07 Crew Credits Abu Ghraib (Loeb Experimental Theater, 05/12/2005 - 05/14/2005)... Director Three Tall Women (Loeb Experimental Theater, 03/04/2005 - 03/12/2005)... Painting Crew Betrayal (Loeb Experimental Theater, 03/04/2004 - 03/06/2004)... Build and Paint Crew So he goes from stagehand to director, basically? You must move up quick in the land of Cambridge theatre... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-05-12 16:51 |
| #17 Another element that engages the audience emotionally as well as providing a narrative thread is the gradual moral awakening... Actually, Darby tried to report the abuses immediately, and refused to take any part in them from the beginning. If Singh has the character based on Darby involved in ANY abuses, I hope Darby takes him -- and Harvard -- to the cleaners. Also, as much as I dislike Karpinski, she didn't abuse anyone, either, despite what the article implies. Maybe the author of this story needs to get a couple of friendly letters from lawyers... |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-05-12 16:37 |
| #16 you'll see Singh at the burgerKing driveup window, explaining that "he burnt the fries, would you like a cheesecake instead"? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-05-12 15:45 |
| #15 "They've (Show Up Productions) been terrific at: raising money giving us advice helping us mold the characters mentoring me in my first effort at script writing and directing . . . " In other words, Currun Singh is bought and paid for and has prostituted his art. The question of how ordinary people can commit unspeakable acts became one of the central issues . . . Unspeakable acts? How about a production on the unspeakable actions of the terrorists. Heads would roll . . . The left loves idiots like Singh. Probably see more of him. Maybe he'll hook up with Michael Moore. |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2005-05-12 15:38 |
| #14 sea cruise, I believe that what went on at Abu Ghraib went on for 3 days only. You are likely correct. I blurted out one year but have nothing to support that. Either way, Saddam's atrocities dragged on for decades. But perhaps the Muslims (Sunni & Shi'ite) like it that way) There is an instinct for punishment, abuse and flagellation in Muhammadanism. "That's the way uhuh uhuh, I like it" |
| Posted by: sea cruise 2005-05-12 15:11 |
| #13 ...with special guest star Ted Kennedy as Jumbo the Drunken Elephant. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-05-12 15:02 |
| #12 sea cruise, I beleve that what went on at Abu Ghraib went on for 3 days only. Of course the MSM has been soddomizing that dead horse for over year... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-05-12 14:58 |
| #11 Addendum to #4. And it has Alzheimers. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-05-12 14:55 |
| #10 Here are some more titles: Saddam gouged my daugher eyes out then raped her because I couldn't tell what I didn't know. 101 uses for an industreal shreadder. We target, murder, and behead innocent civilians but you better give us Geneva Convention protections! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-05-12 14:55 |
| #9 This thread reminds me of a favorite Letterman Top Ten List -- Plays That Won't Make It On Broadway. Number Seven: "I'm Not Going to Pay a Lot For This Muffler: A dramatic reading by James Earl Jones" and Number One: "Meese!" |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-05-12 14:44 |
| #8 Lol! The Hundred Years War, held over for yet another century! |
| Posted by: .com 2005-05-12 14:24 |
| #7 looken forward nyoo john cleese moovee: "It will be great comedy adventure about a pre-historic culture clash between two tribes, one comparatively evolved tribe, and one un-evolved tribe," he said. "Some might consider one tribe might be the English, and some might consider that the other to be the French, the Gauls. "Let's just say it's the start of the Entente Cordial and it explains why the English Channel is there." link |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2005-05-12 14:22 |
| #6 thinkerin tu mebbe duble feecher with "kaddafi teh musical" or did im miss it? |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2005-05-12 14:13 |
| #5 Rush Limbaugh just said, how come these clowns aren't putting on a derogatory musical about the beastial crimes of Saddam. Which went on for decades, not just one year. Plus what when on in Abu Ghraib got nowhere near what the Sunni Jihadist scum kill with a single car bomb these days. The key is to keep matters in perspective. Something the leftists/Muslims are not interested in, deceitful propaganda is more important. Lying to people is more important. |
| Posted by: sea cruise 2005-05-12 13:54 |
| #4 What's rather pathetic about Harvard today is that they only have one Loeb. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-05-12 13:41 |
| #3 Maybe they can make this a double feature with "My Name is Rachel Corrie (And I Was Crushed Flat by a Bulldozer)"? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-05-12 13:37 |
| #2 Includes the blockbuster finale, Panties on My Head, Alligator Clips on My Ballsack, that's sure to bring down the house! |
| Posted by: Dar 2005-05-12 13:34 |
| #1 Is this extra credit or required for the porno degree? |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2005-05-12 13:32 |