People take into consideration whether or not or not they may however by no means if they need to. That premise is on the core of the now 60-year-old novel “Cat’s Cradle” by Kurt Vonnegut and now in a brand new adaptation from Lifeline Theatre.
“Cat’s Cradle” follows the journey of John who after initially intending to write down a ebook in regards to the affect of atomic bomb, finally ends up going to an island of people that observe Bokononism, a secret faith that consists of any two worshippers rubbing the naked soles of their ft collectively to encourage non secular connection. The island of San Lorenzo can also be coping with a lethal ice substance Ice-Nine, a stable polymorph of water.
Amidst all of that is the message of pondering over the implications of selecting to maneuver ahead in modifications that will affect human life, whether or not it’s constructive or adverse.
“We decided that it would be a great moment with our current world, to revisit this adaption,” stated Director Heather Currie, who additionally teaches part-time within the Cinema and Television Arts Department. “The company previously did an adaption 20 years ago.”
When requested in regards to the Bokononism’s significance in reflecting actuality, Currie stated, “it is satirizing this made-up set of rules that humans will create to give themselves a set of beliefs [yet], there are ideas that are helpful and true of our experience like a karass, that our lives interweave with each other…it both satirizes some of that system and also celebrates some of the really positive aspects.”
Mandy Walsh, a Columbia graduate, performs Mrs. Crosby, who plans to open a bicycle store together with her husband to benefit from poor labor situations, and Sandra, a prostitute.
“The two roles are different,” Walsh stated, so the problem was “finding their voice, pitch, rate of speech, where is the sound placed…and then just threw a lot of experimentation in rehearsals so we would just try different things.”
Then all of it got here collectively.
“It really comes together once you get the costumes and the makeup and things fell into place more and more as we kept adding elements to the rehearsal process and definitely intact it in previews,” she stated.
Johnard Washington performs L. Boyd Johnson, one of many founders of San Lorenzo who afterward grew to become Bokononism founder Bokonon, and Papa Manzano, the ruler of San Lorenzo. A memorable juncture occurred throughout rehearsals the place Washington stated, “You’re in a room of very serious actors who want to do their due diligence and create life in the roles and Heather just has this charm about her that…I often found myself and I think the room, laughing…I guess in her own Vonnegut way, just like having a lot of ideas coming…”
Washington stated individuals are likely to go to theaters to flee from actuality. “I think ‘Cat’s Cradle’ does a good job at that without saying ‘We have the answer’, because in the end no one really does.”
Lifeline Theatre’s efficiency of Cat’s Cradle runs from Friday, Sept. 15 to Sunday, Oct. 22.
