When I was washing dishes this morning, I turned to TED for entertainment and solace. TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Per usual, I clicked on the Global Issues tab on the left hand column and then randomly selected a talk. Today, I met Sasha Dichter from Acumen Fund, a microfinance fund. Microfinance provides financial services for the impoverished in developing countries. These financial services include the provision of small loans to the poor in order to fund small businesses. More importantly, Mr. Dichter took a challenge. He decided to give to any charity or individual who asked for money over the period of 30 days. For him, it changed the way he raised capital for his firm. His methodology became people-centric. It was no longer about the return or the dividend. It was about the people who were in need. With any sort of leap, you must take risk. The risk is that the homeless man or woman on the street uses your money for drugs or alcohol, but what happens if the converse is also correct? What if that spare change fed the person for the day or gave them that little bit more that was needed to give them hope. The risk is that the charity has inflated pay for employees and lucrative bonuses, but what happens if it is meager and lean? I tend to gamble on the side of humanity, compassion, and trust. As Mr Dichter says, giving on the street does not preclude you from donating to a homeless shelter or a charity that you know is lean. True philanthropy is about risk taking. Today, I begin my own 30 Day Challenge. From now until December 16, I will give to anyone who asks, whether on the street, at my door, on the phone or in the mail. However, I am extending the challenge. I will then budget that amount for donation each month, and what I do not give on the street, I will give to charity. I challenge you to do the same. It is not a competition. You compete only against yourself and the very inhibitions that prevent you from being more generous.
See Sasha Dichter's TED Talk:
http://www.ted.com/talks/sasha_dichter.html
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
TO YOU FROM FAILING HANDS WE THROW THE TORCH — BE YOURS TO HOLD IT HIGH!
Yesterday, I rode the 4.5 miles out to the American Cemetery, which is just outside the Cambridge corporation limit. While Friday was Veteran's Day in the U.S. and Armistice Day in the UK, the Sunday following the eleventh day of the eleventh month is Remembrance Day, which is the equivalent of Memorial Day in the U.S. Given the occasion, I thought it was quite time to go and pay my respect to the U.S. fallen, who never made it home. For 3,812 sailors, soldiers, marines, and airman, this scenic field is their final resting spot. Each grave is marked as they are at Arlington, while the magnitude is smaller, the contribution is the same. They represent the cost that was paid in both World War I and World War II to protect our mutual way of life. I found the Wall of the Missing even more sobering. On tablets stretching over one-hundred yards, 5,127 names are etched. They represent the young men who perished in the Battle for the Atlantic and in air raids into the heart of Axis-Europe. Their remains were never recovered and lie in some unknown grave. As I walked along the wall, I read the names and paid distinct attention to the volume of 2nd Lieutentants and Ensigns who died before their time. The following quote runs the entire length of the Wall of the Missing:
THE AMERICANS, WHOSE NAMES HERE APPEAR, WERE PART OF THE PRICE THAT FREE MEN FOR THE SECOND TIME IN THIS CENTURY HAVE BEEN FORCED TO PAY TO DEFEND HUMAN LIBERTY AND RIGHTS ALL WHO SHALL HEREAFTER LIVE IN FREEDOM WILL BE HERE REMINDED THAT TO THESE MEN AND THEIR COMRADES WE OWE A DEBT TO BE PAID WITH GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THEIR SACRIFICE AND THE HIGH RESOLVE THAT THE CAUSE FOR WHICH THEY DIED SHALL LIVE ETERNALLY.
On Remembrance Sunday, the wall was decorated with wreaths from around the U.S. and the U.K. As I walked along, I read the messages, messages of solidarity between the two nations. If anyone doubts the special relationship between our countries, they should have observed the throbs of Brits who came to pay their respects to American allies who fought and died before they were even born. I would argue that you would not find this type of observance anywhere else in the world. Next time I go, I hope to take other American student so that they can see the cost of freedom that has been paid by people no older than we.
THE AMERICANS, WHOSE NAMES HERE APPEAR, WERE PART OF THE PRICE THAT FREE MEN FOR THE SECOND TIME IN THIS CENTURY HAVE BEEN FORCED TO PAY TO DEFEND HUMAN LIBERTY AND RIGHTS ALL WHO SHALL HEREAFTER LIVE IN FREEDOM WILL BE HERE REMINDED THAT TO THESE MEN AND THEIR COMRADES WE OWE A DEBT TO BE PAID WITH GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THEIR SACRIFICE AND THE HIGH RESOLVE THAT THE CAUSE FOR WHICH THEY DIED SHALL LIVE ETERNALLY.
On Remembrance Sunday, the wall was decorated with wreaths from around the U.S. and the U.K. As I walked along, I read the messages, messages of solidarity between the two nations. If anyone doubts the special relationship between our countries, they should have observed the throbs of Brits who came to pay their respects to American allies who fought and died before they were even born. I would argue that you would not find this type of observance anywhere else in the world. Next time I go, I hope to take other American student so that they can see the cost of freedom that has been paid by people no older than we.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Plight of the Poor Blogger
Due to my poor blogging performance over the last few weeks, I decided to update you on the last few weeks, which have been quite active and busy.
Over the past few weeks, I have engaged the Cambridge Rotary Club in various instances. On November 2, I attended the District 1080 Ambassador Welcome Evening, which was quite pleasant. Here, I met the other Ambassadorial scholars from throughout the District as well as the Cambridge Rotaract President, James Sheard. Each Ambassador briefly introduced themselves to representatives from the various clubs in the district As one could expect, I have a few follow-on events scheduled. After the event, I joined Alexander McKinnon from Darby, Australia, for Cruel and Tender as well as a few beers at the ADC Theater.
On Friday, November 4, I organized a resistance effort to oppose my exclusion from the graduate student formal dinner at Clare College. At Cambridge, colleges often conduct "swaps" where students at one college go to another for their formal dinners. On this evening, many of the stalwarts at Clare College could not get tickets to the event. So, I organized a revolutionary event in the Spirit of 1776. We held an informal-formal dinner at La Margherita, which was English-Italian and surprisingly delicious. I unknowingly wore a gray shirt and black trousers, which permitted me to match the waiters. After the event, we "occupied" the college bar, demonstrating our disgust with the 1% who actually received tickets.
On Saturday, November 5, I was quite glad that I shed my beard and long hair as I met the senior leadership of the 48th Air Wing Operations Group from Royal Air Force Base Lakenheath. The 48th Air Wing includes U.S. Air Force F-15 squadrons and an HH-60 helicopter squadron (rescue) that support activities within U.S. European Command. The 48th Air Wing has been operating in the European theater since 1952, but Lakenheath has been under U.S. operational command since 1948 as part of the Strategic Air Command, a critical arm of strategic deterrence during the Cold War. It may seem illogical that a butter-bar Ensign would hang around with a group of Colonels and Lieutenant Colonels from a different service; however, one of my Navy compatriots, Will Murray (USNA '10) is studying at Downing College where the senior U.S. Military officer in Cambridge is also studying. As a consequence, he invited me to a lovely 5-course meal as an extra seat became available. I found the event quite wonderful and genuinely learned a lot from these highly experienced individuals, who seemingly have been at the tip of the U.S. spear for the last 10 years. One of the interesting results of prolonged conflict is the diverse experience of individuals in all services. Many of these officers had served as individual augmentees in either Iraq or Afghanistan. The night came to an end at the Eagle, which has been a popular pub for U.S. Air Force personnel going back to World War II. In the back taproom, 70-year old graffiti covers the ceiling and U.S. military patches cover the walls.
On Tuesday, November 8, I rose early and gave a short introduction to the Cambridge Rotary Club at their breakfast meeting. Here, I met Mona who will provide me with transportation to the various clubs. Mona is an ortho-dentist, who is originally from Norway. I gave a cursory introduction, but the meeting was such that I will surely be asked to present again. The meeting also afforded me with the opportunity to learn a little more about the Rotary Club and its activities. At the meeting, the club provided funding for a charity that works to increase financial literacy, budgeting, and debt consolidation for the heavily indebted. Like in the U.S., the collapse of the housing bubble left many common folk reeling. The organization works to support 60-65 individuals who have accrued nearly 750,000 pounds silver (1.2 Million U.S. Dollars) worth of debt. The service is in high demand.
On Thursday, November 10, I attended the Cambridge Rotaract meeting at nearby Anglia Ruskin University. Rotaract in Cambridge is in its infancy, but it is really trying develop and grow itself into a social force. Currently, the body of the organization is almost entirely students. It will be unique to be part of its development in the coming years. Currently, the group is starting to volunteer with Cambridge Food Cycle. Each year, the UK food retail industry sends 1.6 million tons of food to landfills. 1/4 quarter of this food is estimated as being fit for consumption. FoodCycle raises awareness of food waste and food poverty by reclaiming good food to make delicious, nutritious meals for people in need. In addition, the Rotaract will have a booth at the upcoming Mill Road Fayre. At the event, the group will be selling homemade necklaces and bracelets to support homeless survival packages. If you know of a strong Rotaract club, I would love to talk to their leadership about recruitment and fundraising.
Over the past few weeks, I have engaged the Cambridge Rotary Club in various instances. On November 2, I attended the District 1080 Ambassador Welcome Evening, which was quite pleasant. Here, I met the other Ambassadorial scholars from throughout the District as well as the Cambridge Rotaract President, James Sheard. Each Ambassador briefly introduced themselves to representatives from the various clubs in the district As one could expect, I have a few follow-on events scheduled. After the event, I joined Alexander McKinnon from Darby, Australia, for Cruel and Tender as well as a few beers at the ADC Theater.
On Friday, November 4, I organized a resistance effort to oppose my exclusion from the graduate student formal dinner at Clare College. At Cambridge, colleges often conduct "swaps" where students at one college go to another for their formal dinners. On this evening, many of the stalwarts at Clare College could not get tickets to the event. So, I organized a revolutionary event in the Spirit of 1776. We held an informal-formal dinner at La Margherita, which was English-Italian and surprisingly delicious. I unknowingly wore a gray shirt and black trousers, which permitted me to match the waiters. After the event, we "occupied" the college bar, demonstrating our disgust with the 1% who actually received tickets.
On Saturday, November 5, I was quite glad that I shed my beard and long hair as I met the senior leadership of the 48th Air Wing Operations Group from Royal Air Force Base Lakenheath. The 48th Air Wing includes U.S. Air Force F-15 squadrons and an HH-60 helicopter squadron (rescue) that support activities within U.S. European Command. The 48th Air Wing has been operating in the European theater since 1952, but Lakenheath has been under U.S. operational command since 1948 as part of the Strategic Air Command, a critical arm of strategic deterrence during the Cold War. It may seem illogical that a butter-bar Ensign would hang around with a group of Colonels and Lieutenant Colonels from a different service; however, one of my Navy compatriots, Will Murray (USNA '10) is studying at Downing College where the senior U.S. Military officer in Cambridge is also studying. As a consequence, he invited me to a lovely 5-course meal as an extra seat became available. I found the event quite wonderful and genuinely learned a lot from these highly experienced individuals, who seemingly have been at the tip of the U.S. spear for the last 10 years. One of the interesting results of prolonged conflict is the diverse experience of individuals in all services. Many of these officers had served as individual augmentees in either Iraq or Afghanistan. The night came to an end at the Eagle, which has been a popular pub for U.S. Air Force personnel going back to World War II. In the back taproom, 70-year old graffiti covers the ceiling and U.S. military patches cover the walls.
On Tuesday, November 8, I rose early and gave a short introduction to the Cambridge Rotary Club at their breakfast meeting. Here, I met Mona who will provide me with transportation to the various clubs. Mona is an ortho-dentist, who is originally from Norway. I gave a cursory introduction, but the meeting was such that I will surely be asked to present again. The meeting also afforded me with the opportunity to learn a little more about the Rotary Club and its activities. At the meeting, the club provided funding for a charity that works to increase financial literacy, budgeting, and debt consolidation for the heavily indebted. Like in the U.S., the collapse of the housing bubble left many common folk reeling. The organization works to support 60-65 individuals who have accrued nearly 750,000 pounds silver (1.2 Million U.S. Dollars) worth of debt. The service is in high demand.
On Thursday, November 10, I attended the Cambridge Rotaract meeting at nearby Anglia Ruskin University. Rotaract in Cambridge is in its infancy, but it is really trying develop and grow itself into a social force. Currently, the body of the organization is almost entirely students. It will be unique to be part of its development in the coming years. Currently, the group is starting to volunteer with Cambridge Food Cycle. Each year, the UK food retail industry sends 1.6 million tons of food to landfills. 1/4 quarter of this food is estimated as being fit for consumption. FoodCycle raises awareness of food waste and food poverty by reclaiming good food to make delicious, nutritious meals for people in need. In addition, the Rotaract will have a booth at the upcoming Mill Road Fayre. At the event, the group will be selling homemade necklaces and bracelets to support homeless survival packages. If you know of a strong Rotaract club, I would love to talk to their leadership about recruitment and fundraising.
Cambridge Ambassadorial Scholars Welcome Evening
Picture from the Scholars Welcome Evening in Cambridge.
Left to Right:-Myself, Outgoing District 1080 Ambassadorial Scholar Samantha Gale (UK), Jacob Cox (USA), Cambridge Rotaractor James Sheard (UK),
Simon Prigent (FRA), Mackenzie Wehner(USA), Russ Burgin (USA), Yuichi Ishida (JAP), Alexander
McKinnon (AUS).Thursday, November 3, 2011
Picture Tab
I am adding and modifying portions of the blog. Please check out the "Photo" tab to see the images of my first month on the ground.
Cruel and Tender
Cruel and Tender is a contemporary version of Trachinae, Sophocles’ immortal tragedy. Replication is often difficult, particularly when integrating contemporary events and criticism. The Trachinae chronicled the relationship between a warrior, Heracles and his jealous wife, Deianeira. In the grandeur of conquest, Heracles takes a city in order to seize a mistress. When word arrives home in the form of the mistress, Deianeira is jealous of the younger woman. In an errant attempt to re-win his affections, she receives a mystical potion that will rekindle his love for her. Tragically, the mystical potion is actually poisoned. In an act so familiar in the work of Sophocles, Deianeira commits suicide and Heracles dies suffering, yet aware that Deianeira committed this act out of love.
In this rendition, the setting and period has changed. The far-off conquest and conflict is replaced with the War on Terror, Heracles is now a modern General. His wife is Amelia, a pretentious, jealous, and perhaps even desperate socialite. While the General is off in Africa, her discontent for the War and her husband grows. When he sends back a two Africans to live with his wife, Amelia must decide whether the young girl and her apparent son are a mistress and an illegitimate child or refugees. In a seemingly weird gesture, Amelia sends a pillow to her husband, which knowingly or unknowingly is poisoned, perpetuating the recreation of the tragedy in modern terms.
The plot in general requires a significant suspension of disbelief, which would otherwise be more or less accepted in the deterministic, mythical, and even mystical Grecian form. First, Amelia sends her son to find his father in the war zone. Second, chemical weapons are mistaken for a nuanced love potion. Third, the direct participation in war crimes by a senior officer is rather close to the improbable given embedded media outlets. Fourth, the modern, professional military would not permit refugees to come home as spoils of war. While the analogy is not lost, it is weakened by these plot weaknesses and anachronisms. Ironically, Crimp’s criticism is of the civil-military divide is accentuated by his own lack of knowledge.
These weaknesses do not entirely hinder the recreation of the tragedy. The chorus is insightfully replaced with the shallowness and comedic relief of three housekeepers. The setting takes place entirely in the bedroom, which sets the desolate mood and highlights the centrality of physical conquest. The unfinished walls, exposed to the frame, depict the destruction of the home. With a flashlight, Richard (Michael Cotton) replaces the soothsayer of the tragedy, illuminating the real identity of the young girl. The mutual catharsis of the General and Amelia is powerful; the tragic value is real as the General, through his action, has destroyed the very thing that he nobly sought to defend. He has become the terrorist: destroying a city, conquesting a young woman, and driving his wife to insanity.
Amelia (Megan Roberts) commands the stage in this performance. Her monologues were well-delivered and well-received. She captured the full-gamut of emotion that is experienced by the military wife. The chorus (Matilda Wnek, Kesia Guillery, and Ailis Creavin) enhanced her performance by highlighting both the separation of Amelia from society and society’s separation from the War on Terror and the rest of the not-so suburban world. The General (Lawrence Bowles) did not initially impress. Foreshadowing implied that he was already an invalid, yet he appears strong on the stage. As his hysteria rises in the final scene, The General recaptures the character, but it was almost too late. Serving as the foil to Amelia, Laela (Nys Joseph-Mitchell), the young mistress, delivers a pithy performance in her stage debut. If the play was a bildungsroman, James (Jack Parlett) masterfully captures the coming of age of a young man, whose father remained in permanent abstention. The dynamic of the character could only be captured by such a performance. Jonathon (Phil Howe) wonderfully depicts the villainous and antagonistic role of the government, which sends its men and women to fight and to kill, yet abandons them. Jonathon plays the politician to perfection, enjoying the fruits of the forbidden tree made possible by the General. As a rule, the cast was superb.
In all, the performance was excellent. As one can imagine, the play is difficult to execute. The cast and crew put forth an excellent effort, but were ultimately constrained by Martin Crimp’s inability to understand and deliver a realistic product. His valid social criticism is hindered by his own lack of information and understanding of political and social reality.
In this rendition, the setting and period has changed. The far-off conquest and conflict is replaced with the War on Terror, Heracles is now a modern General. His wife is Amelia, a pretentious, jealous, and perhaps even desperate socialite. While the General is off in Africa, her discontent for the War and her husband grows. When he sends back a two Africans to live with his wife, Amelia must decide whether the young girl and her apparent son are a mistress and an illegitimate child or refugees. In a seemingly weird gesture, Amelia sends a pillow to her husband, which knowingly or unknowingly is poisoned, perpetuating the recreation of the tragedy in modern terms.
The plot in general requires a significant suspension of disbelief, which would otherwise be more or less accepted in the deterministic, mythical, and even mystical Grecian form. First, Amelia sends her son to find his father in the war zone. Second, chemical weapons are mistaken for a nuanced love potion. Third, the direct participation in war crimes by a senior officer is rather close to the improbable given embedded media outlets. Fourth, the modern, professional military would not permit refugees to come home as spoils of war. While the analogy is not lost, it is weakened by these plot weaknesses and anachronisms. Ironically, Crimp’s criticism is of the civil-military divide is accentuated by his own lack of knowledge.
These weaknesses do not entirely hinder the recreation of the tragedy. The chorus is insightfully replaced with the shallowness and comedic relief of three housekeepers. The setting takes place entirely in the bedroom, which sets the desolate mood and highlights the centrality of physical conquest. The unfinished walls, exposed to the frame, depict the destruction of the home. With a flashlight, Richard (Michael Cotton) replaces the soothsayer of the tragedy, illuminating the real identity of the young girl. The mutual catharsis of the General and Amelia is powerful; the tragic value is real as the General, through his action, has destroyed the very thing that he nobly sought to defend. He has become the terrorist: destroying a city, conquesting a young woman, and driving his wife to insanity.
Amelia (Megan Roberts) commands the stage in this performance. Her monologues were well-delivered and well-received. She captured the full-gamut of emotion that is experienced by the military wife. The chorus (Matilda Wnek, Kesia Guillery, and Ailis Creavin) enhanced her performance by highlighting both the separation of Amelia from society and society’s separation from the War on Terror and the rest of the not-so suburban world. The General (Lawrence Bowles) did not initially impress. Foreshadowing implied that he was already an invalid, yet he appears strong on the stage. As his hysteria rises in the final scene, The General recaptures the character, but it was almost too late. Serving as the foil to Amelia, Laela (Nys Joseph-Mitchell), the young mistress, delivers a pithy performance in her stage debut. If the play was a bildungsroman, James (Jack Parlett) masterfully captures the coming of age of a young man, whose father remained in permanent abstention. The dynamic of the character could only be captured by such a performance. Jonathon (Phil Howe) wonderfully depicts the villainous and antagonistic role of the government, which sends its men and women to fight and to kill, yet abandons them. Jonathon plays the politician to perfection, enjoying the fruits of the forbidden tree made possible by the General. As a rule, the cast was superb.
In all, the performance was excellent. As one can imagine, the play is difficult to execute. The cast and crew put forth an excellent effort, but were ultimately constrained by Martin Crimp’s inability to understand and deliver a realistic product. His valid social criticism is hindered by his own lack of information and understanding of political and social reality.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Enemy, Enemy, Enemy of the People!
I have started to review plays for the Cambridge Theatre Review. Last night, I attended An Enemy Of The People by Henrik Ibsen. If you are looking for an excellent polit and social critique, you may be able to find it in movie form, starring Steve McQueen as Stockmann and Charles Durning as Major.
An Enemy of the People transcends both time and space providing a universal criticism of societal retrenchment and its impact on idealism. Written in 1882 and subsequently translated by Arthur Miller in the 1950’s, the play is not lost on this generation of theater attendees as it explores the intricacies of truth, ideas, and time through the lenses of society, community, and family. Ibsen well-develops both the classes and the interests that ultimately determine the direction of society for good or for bad. The simultaneous development of these social forces, their friction, and their eventual collusion is startlingly close to reality. As the play develops, viewers suddenly realize that the small, intentionally nameless town is their town and their society.
The plot follows a young, idealist, Doctor Stockmann (Tom Russell), who is the health and safety officer at the “natural” spa, the economic life-blood of an otherwise unremarkable town. As the town physician, he notices a pattern of illnesses which can only be attributed to swimming in and consumption of the spa waters. He soon discovers that the water is toxic, polluted by his own father-in-law’s (Stephen Bailey) tannery (Stephen Bailey). Believing that he is the champion of the town, Stockmann quickly informs the major power players to include his brother, Major (Quentin Beroud), who soon becomes the human antagonist and manipulator of the mass. Stockmann convinced by the power of the truth and the scientific basis of his evidence soon runs into the juggernaut of political and economic retrenchment as he discovers that idealism and righteousness are merely a façade for the status-quo.
Tom Russell delivers an excellent performance as Stockmann, a dynamic and difficult character who travels across the gamut of experiences from naivety and discovery to catharsis and isolation. His performance was only surpassed by his brotherly antagonist, Major, played by Quentin Beroud. While Stockmann is the main character, the performance of Beroud predominates from subtle finger curling to insidious snarls. The style and themes require such a powerful contrast between protagonist and antagonist and Beroud ensures that this exists. The tension is real. As the foil and daughter of Stockmann, Rozzi Nicholson-Leiley with her assertiveness and almost natural emotion overpowers the performance of Mairin O’Hagan. This dichotomy between mother (pragmatist) and daughter (idealist) is weakened only by the unrealistic emotion and sometimes awkward delivery of the former. Covering the spectrum of the oppositional left, Billing (Sam Sloman), Hovstad (Ned Carpenter), and Aslaksen (Harry Baker) deliver excellent supporting performances, which provide the foundation of the social criticism. In a unique twist, the Crowd is introduced as a chorus-like body and allows for the interpretation of the work as a tragedy. Their embeddedness within the audience, their jeers, and their mob-like chants force the audience into the mindset of the mob. This mechanism challenges the idealism that we each believe is within us.
“The strongest man in the world is the man who stands most alone.” The same can be said for this excellent student-production. The strongest plays, presented by the strongest cast and crew, stand alone at ADC.
An Enemy of the People transcends both time and space providing a universal criticism of societal retrenchment and its impact on idealism. Written in 1882 and subsequently translated by Arthur Miller in the 1950’s, the play is not lost on this generation of theater attendees as it explores the intricacies of truth, ideas, and time through the lenses of society, community, and family. Ibsen well-develops both the classes and the interests that ultimately determine the direction of society for good or for bad. The simultaneous development of these social forces, their friction, and their eventual collusion is startlingly close to reality. As the play develops, viewers suddenly realize that the small, intentionally nameless town is their town and their society.
The plot follows a young, idealist, Doctor Stockmann (Tom Russell), who is the health and safety officer at the “natural” spa, the economic life-blood of an otherwise unremarkable town. As the town physician, he notices a pattern of illnesses which can only be attributed to swimming in and consumption of the spa waters. He soon discovers that the water is toxic, polluted by his own father-in-law’s (Stephen Bailey) tannery (Stephen Bailey). Believing that he is the champion of the town, Stockmann quickly informs the major power players to include his brother, Major (Quentin Beroud), who soon becomes the human antagonist and manipulator of the mass. Stockmann convinced by the power of the truth and the scientific basis of his evidence soon runs into the juggernaut of political and economic retrenchment as he discovers that idealism and righteousness are merely a façade for the status-quo.
Tom Russell delivers an excellent performance as Stockmann, a dynamic and difficult character who travels across the gamut of experiences from naivety and discovery to catharsis and isolation. His performance was only surpassed by his brotherly antagonist, Major, played by Quentin Beroud. While Stockmann is the main character, the performance of Beroud predominates from subtle finger curling to insidious snarls. The style and themes require such a powerful contrast between protagonist and antagonist and Beroud ensures that this exists. The tension is real. As the foil and daughter of Stockmann, Rozzi Nicholson-Leiley with her assertiveness and almost natural emotion overpowers the performance of Mairin O’Hagan. This dichotomy between mother (pragmatist) and daughter (idealist) is weakened only by the unrealistic emotion and sometimes awkward delivery of the former. Covering the spectrum of the oppositional left, Billing (Sam Sloman), Hovstad (Ned Carpenter), and Aslaksen (Harry Baker) deliver excellent supporting performances, which provide the foundation of the social criticism. In a unique twist, the Crowd is introduced as a chorus-like body and allows for the interpretation of the work as a tragedy. Their embeddedness within the audience, their jeers, and their mob-like chants force the audience into the mindset of the mob. This mechanism challenges the idealism that we each believe is within us.
“The strongest man in the world is the man who stands most alone.” The same can be said for this excellent student-production. The strongest plays, presented by the strongest cast and crew, stand alone at ADC.
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