Theater of the Inexplicable

The ART took the evening to remind harrock and I that, while it might have been putting on some completely comprehensible shows this season, like Copenhagen and No Child (and Donnie Darko, I am told, made more sense if you'd seen the movie), they should not be taken as representative of its core competency, and these are the people that brought you Richard II in a swimming pool.

The lighting was, as always, gorgeous. The lounge singer singing "Suicide is Painless" to Brutus was haunting. The 60s-political visual look worked for me. There was a moment of Mark Antony standing by Caesar's body, looking up at the empty ampitheater seats, in which I could see the wheels start to turn before he goes to let slip the dogs of war. But there was a lot of sheer surreal, including:

• The whole "it's all an afterlife dream remembered by Lucius" theme was sort of puzzling. There was an insert explaining that; perhaps early audiences were totally baffled.
• All of Lucius's lines being in sign language.
• (This one is my favorite) The conspirators, after killing Caesar, vow to dip their hands in his blood. They do so slowly, one at a time, coating their hands dramatically with stage blood. Except for Cinna, who doesn't need to use Caesar's: he has brought his own supply of blood, in his suit pockets. Cinna was undoubtedly a Boy Scout.
• The car hanging above the battlefield
• The evolution of combat tech during the battle, from the huggystab to the glove pistol and then the machine gun, to what might have been a rocket launcher.
• The scene in which everyone entered and exited by rolling under the hanging set. (This counts as writhing on the floor, which the Totally Straight shows have also been missing.)

Octopus!

Anyone want an octopus? I was curious how fast an little amigurumi critter would be to make, and the answer is "very", having started it yesterday.