Stephen Hart is an actor from the UK who is currently performing a monologue illustrating his childhood. Unfortunately, the show is about child abuse. His mother gave him up for adoption as an infant and spent the first 15 years of his life as the child of a schizophrenic mother, a physically abusive step-mother and a neglectful father. Life on his own was also difficult as he moved from the streets, to a group home, and finally to his own place. As he began to get his life together he was raped and is now infected with HIV. Through all of this is was theater that seemed to keep him going and even landed a part in a production by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Today, he is performing a minimal theater piece called Shadowed Dreamer, an autobiography, at Brooklyn College and in NYC public schools.
I was surprised that this was categorized as a LGTB production because the story focused on abuse and his heartache, more than his experiences with other men. The performance was more like storytelling. There was almost no visual component. He came in as though he was anyone walking down the streets of a big city; big sunglasses, shaved head, leather jacket, jeans, backpack... and after he took off his glasses and backpack he began to tell his story.
Shadowed Dreamer reminds me of a theater piece in the Public Theater in the East Village called "County of Kings" (http://theater.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/theater/reviews/13county.html) which also the autobiographical story of an adult's difficult childhood, but instead of highlighting abuse, it highlights the influence of hip hop. The County of Kings was also had minimal visuals, although, it was in a more professional theater with better sound. I also wonder about funding. Would Shadowed Dreamer be funded as a full production? Would people want to go see this in the theater? Also, I'm sure if funding for a more elaborate production was offered, he'd take it, but it doesn't seem like it's his goal.
Theater goers are looking for an escape from the mundane. One could say that Hart's monologue takes you from the mundane, helping you to appreciate what you have. If you have had similar experiences, it may help you to realize that you are not alone. At times his storytelling was captivating and at other times it felt like a list of troubled times he has been through. I found a video on you tube in which he described the performance as "opening the floodgates" and seems to emphasize the Q and A after the performance. He highlights his experiences of breaking through to people who have had similar experiences.
Although the performance was minimal, it wasn't minimal that would probably not be categorized as experimental theater. Classmates have criticized the lack of elaboration as though something is missing and questioned it's validity as art and as theater. Should it have been more visual? Should there have been more actors? Should the monologue have been written in a different way? Maybe it could be classified as a type of theater that is not purely theater. Could it be something other than Theater for Theater's sake? As we continue to ask in the visual arts, we can also ask of theater and every art form; "What is Art?"... or "What is not art?"
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