Word: surrealness
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...performance style swiftly sobers up, allowing us to reconnect with the story's plot line and characters--elements that have been largely drowned out during the first half in the loud static of eighth-grade toilet humor. But the bizarrely goofy comedy of the production becomes all the more surreal in contrast with the newly straight-faced drama, providing some startlingly memorable moments: Kirk Hanson '99 as the apothecary Cerimon, hamming it up as he restores the drowned queen Thaisa to life ("She's ALIIIIVE!"); Michael Roiff '01 as the whorehouse Bawd, camping it up in a drag performance...
...that Grandmother Jaboti wasn't really a turtle, but had simply been put in a fake turtle shell by evil carnival managers that had convinced Jaboti of her turtlehood when she was too young to know the truth. Despite her attempts to provide a rational explanation of Jaboti's surreal biography, though, Harlan's mother cannot help but be nervous about the influence of this story, worrying that such fantasy might render Harlan unable "to tell the truth from the truth...
...fathers of Israel? Were they no more than a bunch of lunatics, attempting to perform on a 20th century stage a bizarre blend of biblical yearnings, 19th century nationalism, socialism and Jewish Messianism? Did Ben-Gurion, at the end of the day, devote his life to a fleeting, surreal vision of resurrecting the Jewish people as a modern, democratic nation in their ancient land...
This crazy scene, one of Moscow's landmarks, was at its most surreal one Friday night a few weekends ago when Steele celebrated his birthday with the staff and patrons. As the kitchen rolled out a huge birthday cake, a 70-year-old babushka dressed scantily in tight green leather and swinging a green leather purse danced in the center of the bar. She was not part of the planned birthday festivities, however: a Russian film-maker was shooting a scene in which the Methuselan sex kitten was the main attraction. The people at the bar loved...
...Parker and Stone's most shocking invention is actually autobiographical. That is very revealing and confirms what one suspects while watching the show: that its creators are not simply out to offend people but are exploring the surreal terrors of childhood. The show would not be so funny, and its outrageous humor would not be shaded by such fear and poignancy, if it weren't an imaginative re-creation of authentic experience. Speaking to the Aspen audience, Stone said, "Face it, fart jokes are funny." This is profoundly true, and no one would want to take these jokes away from...