House / Divided

Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 8:00 P.M., Drake Performance Center

After reflecting over an entire year of the Builder's Association residence here at OSU and the Columbus area, I find that their performance yesterday evening was something of a marvel to behold. I was under the impression, after first coming in contact with the troupe last year, that they were a very contemporary and edgy performance group from New York that wanted to push the boundaries of theatre and communications. While this is completely true, and because of their highly technological performance, I have come to the conclusion that the Association was a means of provoking a moving portrait and juxtaposition between two very different, and yet very similar, time periods with similar aspects of human life.

The presentation itself focused on John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath," and used an enormous amount of technology to advance not only the ideas Steinbeck intended to show in his book, but also the complexities of life both established in that time period and modern day. I was very impressed with the use of projections, particularly the use of scrims with the projections and means of lighting. Afterwards, I had a discussion with another Humanities member who did not have the opportunity to be involved in the discussions last year, and he seemed a little put off by how sparse the plot line itself was constructed. However, I felt that because I had acquired such a great knowledge of "The Grapes of Wrath" from this project, it seemed to me that the great majority of the Builder's ideas were based in the process of making the show, rather than solely the final product.

While in some cases critics might call this a weakness of the show itself, I was more than okay with this learning process and being a part of the advancement of culture and social ideas. With more performances to come, I would definitely recommend this to anyone who would enjoy a good, contemporary show with a myriad of elements.