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Shades, an Anti-war Play, Opens to Rave Reviews in Los Angeles
an article by CPNN
CPNN readers are urged to spread the word to friends
in Southern California about the play Shades, which
has opened at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. As the
following reviews indicate, it is a powerful anti-
war play.
click on photo to enlarge
LifeinLA: "Paula J. Caplan’s Shades at the Los
Angeles Theatre Center honestly and
compassionately brings the subject of war and
conflict to the stage as it highlights its effects
on modern families and friends of veterans--not to
mention the effect war has on the soldiers
themselves. . . . It is a play I suggest everyone
experience, it will leave you with thought
provoking questions, if not empathy for the
victims of a culture built on war."
Bob Reese: “This is a powerful anti-war statement
about the long range adverse effects of a war
based foreign policy, the ongoing necessity of
dishonesty in order to sustain such policy, and
its effects on a family. The play also covers
such topics as suicide, family dynamics, and
feminism with an uncommon depth; and all of this
in one act. _Shades_ may well be the best serious
play so far in the 21st century.”
Tori Allah: "We were thoroughly dumbstruck. It was
overhwhelming. There was a layering. We talked about
it for days afterward. I want there to be a Part
Two."
Leah Hanes: "SHADES was spectacular! I completely
enjoyed it. The cast was engaging and believable
in their roles. The script was incredible. The
cast brought the stories to life in a way that had
me laughing and crying without warning. I am going
to see it again this weekend. Thank you for the
sensitive way you approach the unapproachable."
Marsie: "...a beautiful, important play. I
attended the Sunday matinee, and I’m still
thinking about it.I was completely absorbed by the
dialogue, the characters, and the circumstances
of their lives, as well as the important issues
about war, family, love, and death that the play
addresses. I thought the actors were doing a
great job, and the production values, set music,
video, etc. enhanced the text."
The Los Angeles Theatre Center is located on 514
S. Spring St, Los Angeles, California. To reserve
tickets contact (866) 811-4111 or go to www.thelatc.org
for online ticketing. Shades opened on Saturday,
April 13th 2013 and runs through May 5th
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DISCUSSION
Question(s) related to this article:
The theatre, How can it contribute to the culture of peace?,
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LATEST READER COMMENT:
(Pour la version originale en Français, voir ci-dessous)
The actor lives between two worlds, one of which is his proper existence and the other, the world of fiction where he takes on the role of his character. He seems to have one foot on each of them while his head collects, combines, mixes, synthesizes and puts together the emotions that are translated and expressed by body and voice.
We get it directly, it is "in our face" with no escape possible! The richness of this mixture "reality/fiction" allows the artist to enter into us through hidden doors.
Using texts with humor and irony, the actor passes messages to which our minds would otherwise be deaf! He affects us, challenges us, plays with us, provokes us, making our attention an accomplice of what he has to say.
The direct contact and proximity, sometimes intimate, between stage and audience send us messages that we hear, questions that provoke us to transferring images to our daily experience, our reality, to "real life"!
Thus we are pushed and shaken from calm to storm, from injustice to anger, from hatred to solidarity, from indifference to empathy in the face of violence.
Actors are in the public service. They are "Public Friends Number One!" They are chroniclers, "troublemakers," breakers of habit, forcing us to think things through.
The culture of peace needs the oxygen of this youthful spirit! , I believe that art in general, with its playfulness, has the power to awaken us. It is an excellent support to the promotion of the Culture of Peace.
I love the theater, it is a space of freedom where actors can transmit an energy drawn from the conviction of what they say. . ...more.
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