Blunt Objects Theatre

 "This is what Sam Shepard used to be."

- Matthias Regan,

The Mess Hall

"I loved it! "

 - Sean Bonnette,

Andrew Jackson Jihad

". . . Is that it ? "

- George Thorogood,

George Thorogood and the Destroyers

"Apocalypse Lost"  Blunt Objects Theatre's debut original production was an experimental foray into a style of performance that we all want to see more of... but have little actual experience in.  In order to achieve experience, we decided to do it ourselves instead of waiting for someone to open that artistic door for us.  We were blazing our own path while at the same time making friends with people who are already walking in the same direction.  Highlights included a house show with Andrew Jackson Jihad in Windsor CT, Insurgent Theatre and Dead Man's Circus in Milwaukee WI, and the Mess Hall experimental community center in Chicago IL.  Lowlights included a seven hour sitting match at O'Hare Airport, our VW Vanagon's engine nearly melting on the way to Provincetown, and the frequent desire to strangle each other with the nearest icon of collective stupidity.  

Nevertheless, this was the ideal show to use as our flagship production.  One of our long term goals with this theatre is to establish a sort of circuit around the country where pretty much anyone can put a show together with their friends, and share their art the same way they already do with garage bands and punk shows.  Apocalypse Lost needed to prove, not only that we can do this, but anyone can do it themselves if they try.  

The script was, to say the least, antistructural.  The traditional love triangle between Harlequin, Pierrot, and Columbina was given a homosexual spin, characters would suddenly express themselves in song or Shakespearean soliloquies, and an entire sequence about collecting money from the audience in order to summon the Devil was shamelessly lifted from a medieval morality play called Mankind. Inherent influences in the script were Bertolt Brecht's Epic Theatre, which emphasizes theme over plot, and Antonin Artaud's theoretical Theatre of Cruelty, which emphasizes the visceral effects of dance and music over the intellectual effects of language.  But as we brought it into rehearsal, and everyone in the ensemble started throwing more ideas in, and it became even more chaotic for the better.  We added entire musical numbers, as well as a toy theatre that evolved from a simple penis joke into a legitimate public service announcement on condoms (Pinocchio: always protect your wood).  The play undermines itself over and over again while building up the excitement until finally the chaos peaks, and the Deus ex Machina enters to fix everything.

But beyond whatever stupid intellectual analysis of the show that we can offer, the end result of Apocalypse Lost was a wet bucketload of fun for both us and the audiences.  Anyone who didn't enjoy it - and there were plenty of those - was given the opportunity to vent their frustration by throwing tomatoes at the Captain.  But we heard so much unsolicited praise from people who don't even know us, and who were under no obligation to encourage our silly madness, that we have no choice but to declare the show a success and continue our quest to make live theatre interesting for a change.