"Rather than being a distraction, the technology underlines Wilde’s themes..."

in

(via The Economist):

"Accompanied by a camera team, Ms Snook begins to narrate Wilde’s tale, her image appearing on a large screen suspended above the stage. She switches between Dorian, Lord Henry and other parts by turning to different cameras and swapping costumes and wigs. It is an amusing if simple trick, you think.

But, like instruments in a jazz ensemble, soon more characters, cameras, screens and Snooks join in. The screens relay both live shots of the actor and pre-recorded snippets of her in assorted roles (she plays 26 in all). The taped Snooks interact with the live one and each other in a tour de force of dramatic timing. As Lord Henry she shares a table with five on-screen diners; as Dorian she is chased through a forest by a virtual nemesis.

Rather than being a distraction, the technology underlines Wilde’s themes. He thought the main characters were all refracted versions of himself; the one-woman format hints that they are jostling facets of a fractured personality. And the screens emphasise the link between Dorian’s vanity and the narcissism of the selfie era, in which many people hide a version of themselves offline."

purpose

in

Been thinking about a piece I read (the link of which I can't find, sorry) on figuring out your purpose, or at least a purpose for a given moment in time, and, while it did include the standard "volunteer" / "shake things up" (done both), one thing it did include that the others didn't was to, paraphrased, explore old hobbies and passions. Can see that I've been doing that for awhile now: drumming, comics and action figure and antique collecting – perhaps this advice and my own exploration of it acts as a means of recognizing where I went off the path and reorienting myself to an unseen map that takes into account all the mileage accrued between then and now?