When an audience sits in a theatre they enter a theatrical world which removes them far from the everyday lives they lead. However, what happens when a production is based on or tells a true story? The fourth wall of the theatre implies it is still a narrative illusion, yet the reality is that the theatrical event did once happen, to very real people not just characters.
The Scottsboro Boys, for example, is a production which has recently graced the West End having transferred from the Young Vic. It tells the story of eight black men (and one thirteen year old) and how they were wrongly accused of raping two white women. It was 2013 before the last living Scottsboro Boy was pardoned and this injustice is broadly painted in Kander and Ebb's satirical tale. The brave production is the epitome of pathos, heightened by its telling through a musical. Kander and Ebb were also responsible for the music and lyrics of musicals Chicago and Cabaret, which also depict true events.
Other musicals which tell stories of real events include Jersey Boys and Sunny Afternoon, in addition to Made In Dagenham and Stephen Ward which tell stories of individual strength and scandal respectively. It is interesting to consider what effect this has on audiences to whom the stories are relayed. Is it equally as interesting to observe real life events as it is to suspend disbelief and be whisked into a fantasy? In a look to the middle of these parameters are musical productions such as From Here to Eternity, Miss Saigon and Les Misérables which add fiction to those real events.
While it is completely fulfilling to sit back and take in a world that doesn't require too much thinking, it is also fulfilling to experience a thought-provoking production which both educates and entertains. What do you think?
Real life musicals
When an audience sits in a theatre they enter a theatrical world which removes them far from the everyday lives they lead. However, what happens when a production is based on or tells a true story? The fourth wall of the theatre implies it is still a narrative illusion, yet the reality is that the theatrical event did once happen, to very real people not just characters.
The Scottsboro Boys, for example, is a production which has recently graced the West End having transferred from the Young Vic. It tells the story of eight black men (and one thirteen year old) and how they were wrongly accused of raping two white women. It was 2013 before the last living Scottsboro Boy was pardoned and this injustice is broadly painted in Kander and Ebb's satirical tale. The brave production is the epitome of pathos, heightened by its telling through a musical. Kander and Ebb were also responsible for the music and lyrics of musicals Chicago and Cabaret, which also depict true events.
Other musicals which tell stories of real events include Jersey Boys and Sunny Afternoon, in addition to Made In Dagenham and Stephen Ward which tell stories of individual strength and scandal respectively. It is interesting to consider what effect this has on audiences to whom the stories are relayed. Is it equally as interesting to observe real life events as it is to suspend disbelief and be whisked into a fantasy? In a look to the middle of these parameters are musical productions such as From Here to Eternity, Miss Saigon and Les Misérables which add fiction to those real events.
While it is completely fulfilling to sit back and take in a world that doesn't require too much thinking, it is also fulfilling to experience a thought-provoking production which both educates and entertains. What do you think?