"Terrorism" by The Presnyakov Brothers
includes plot spoilers
I went to see a play the other night, "Terrorism" by The Presnyakov Brothers, who are Russian. In fact I went to see it twice. My mother was in it. I had already read the play several times, and found it fascinating. I wrote this piece for a several reasons:- To clarify my own thoughts on the play
- To put forward my theory on the play and invite comment.
- To bring the play to people's attention - if you get a chance to see or read it, do!
Please note that this is not an in depth analysis, but a general overview of my thoughts on the play.
Scarily prophetic
According to several sites I looked up Terrorism was written prior to 9-11. I haven't been able to find out exactly when it was written, but it was published in English in 2003. When it was actually written isn't of huge relevance, except that in trying to decipher the meaning it would be interesting to know if it is of direct relevance to "The War on Terror" or scarily prophetic. Either way, it's relevance to today's global climate of terror is undeniable.
The play is consists of short scenes featuring individuals whose lives turn out to be linked by violent occurrences, and it's a very darkly comedic play.
I kept finding myself asking what the Presnyakov Brothers actually wanted to say. It wasn't clear in the production I saw. I can't help feeling that the director didn't make a stand himself what he believed the Brother's wanted to say, or indeed what he wanted to communicate through his production of their play.
Are we all responsible?
One
review of another production of Terrrorism stated "Terrorism begins
at home, or so suggests the Russian play of the same name."
I think the director of the production I saw focussed too much on the 'personal
terrorism' aspects and didn't give any regard for the larger implications.
I can't believe the play is not addressing the larger political landscape,
and perhaps that's why the message seemed somewhat confused in this production.
For me, to put on a play called Terrorism without considering the larger context
is insane. I feel that the play is allegorical and uses the everyday to examine
the global.
Those of you who read my previous piece on 'The Village' are probably thinking I am obsessed. And perhaps I am, but here's what I think anyway. I think the Brothers were saying that we are all responsible for terrorism. We all have to take responsibility for large scale terrorist attacks because we do not make enough effort to avoid them. As somebody memorably said "All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing."
Acceptance and proliferation
The play deals with its subject from many angles, and a lot of it is open to interpretation. I think they make very shrewd comments on dealing with the proliferation of Terrror through the media in a scene including a soldier snapping scenes of destruction and his superior explaining how his action can lead to further destruction. Are the brothers criticising the media's reportage of terrorist activity?
It has been observed that because terrorism is generally looking for a platform, sometimes it is better not to report on activities in the media - not to give them the platform they seek. The soldier's superior himself uses the interesting analogy of Marilyn Monroes rendition of 'Happy Birthday' for the president. He explains that the way she sang it was unique because she was an addict suffering withdrawal, but people attempt to copy it despite the fact that at its core is a desperate illness. He is saying, I feel, that death and destruction have fascinating qualities but to indulge them can lead to an acceptance, and acceptance can lead to proliferation.
Act now
The final scene in the play is very odd. Several reviews seem to think it was written to imply that it may all have been a dream, but I am not so sure. I think the final scene is key to understanding the global allegory - here's my interpretation. A man sits on a plane, flanked by two characters who he has already encountered earlier in the play. These characters represent inner voices of the same character. However they don't imply that any other part of the play is not real. They admonish the character for feeling guilt after he has implicated himself in an act of terror. They point out that nobody ever thinks about making changes to avoid acts of terror when everything is fine, people wait until after the event and then bitch and moan. The message to the audience is 'make changes now before it's too late'.
The character has left the gas on at home knowing his wife and her lover are there. He has not blown them up, but his actions result in their being blown up. If we take for a moment a horrific terrorist attack like 9-11 and use it to examine the plays allegory you could say that concerted attempts to change America's foreign policies could potentially have avoided an attack like 9-11 - but who makes efforts to change foreign policy when the results are not impacting on our daily lives? Not many people. Most of us are guilty when it comes to that kind of complacency. By not taking action and addressing our governments policies we are 'leaving the gas on'.
Precedence
Two old women chase a young boy causing him to ring the doorbell of the apartment in which the gas has been left on. The apartment blows up. The man who left the gas on has a responsibility for that explosion, though he did not ignite the gas. The old ladies excuse themselves saying they often scare the boy like that but nothing ever blew up before. George Bush claimed the US commitment to freedom and democracy and jealousy of US wealth were the reasons for the 9-11 attack, and he was believed by many. Perhaps it was easy to believe because foreign policy had never resulted in an attack like 9-11 before.
Summary
Overall, I think the Presnyakov Brothers' play may be pointing out that we all play a part in the perpetuation of violence and terror, that the root causes of Terrorism must be addressed, and we all have a responsibility to ensure they are addressed - and it is time we stopped believing that it is out of our control.
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