My Experience with Disappearance

I attended the Thursday night showing of Disappearance (the French/Cantonese night) along with Daniela and Spence.  Luckily, unlike the Flat Hat reviewer, I had slept a full 8 hours the night before and was easily able to stay awake during the entire show.  In addition, I took away a very positive experience from the show- one that I'm going to discuss in this blog entry.

Disappearance masterfully combined elements from Asian theater with a very modern plot.  The plot of the apocalyptic show forecasted an ominous future for humanity... but in doing so, it relayed a sense of hope for human nature.  This was done through the juxtaposition of several extremely diverse characters, all forced together as a result of the times.  These characters, despite their differences, were able to function in one (somewhat) cohesive unit.  Guru's directorial approach functioned to illuminate their diversity by placing an emphasis on the ethnic and religious differences between the characters.

Throughout the play, I was able to sense a Noh influence on the play- mostly through the ghost-like qualities of the "robot" brother as well as the incorporation of the four corners into the set and a chorus that functioned similarly to our banjar's "jutai."  Being in 334 definitely heightened my experience with Disappearance in regards to the elements of Noh that I was able to pick up on.  With that being said, I don't think that any experience with Asian theaters was necessary to be able to take away an intense message of peace from the show.

I was saddened by the resolution of the plot of the story, though I have to admit that I saw it coming.  That being said, I think that the dramatic ending added more to the span of the emotions that the play traveled across.  My favorite character was definitely the "Doctor," as I thought he added an appropriate level of comedy to the apocalyptic story and because he was, in my opinion, the most mysterious.  Abhey did a great job in the performance, and being able to watch him on the stage was one of the highlights of my evening.