Discuss: What is Theatrical in 33 Variations?

posted by Vijay Mathew

As you can tell even from the photos, 33 Variations is wonderfully theatrical. But why and how? We'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

To start you off, here's a quote from the playwright and director Moisés Kaufman in an audio interview I conducted a few weeks ago:

"Moment Work" (a directing and writing method Moisés Kaufman uses) really allows the theater-maker to make work that is theatrical. It poses the question: what can happen on the stage that cannot happen anywhere else? If we as people working in the theater are only concerned with the play that we're doing at any given time, we're doing the art form a great disservice.  But if every time we come to do a play and ask: "how is this going to contribute to our understanding of the art form?" Then, I think we're beginning to address our job.   

For those of you who have already seen 33 Variations, post your opinion at the end of this blog entry telling me what you think is particularly "theatrical" about 33 Variations by Moisés Kaufman. What moments or what about the production do you feel can only exist in the theater and not in any other medium such as television or film.

Comments

[John Cahill]

That's easy. The verbal fugue that closes Act One is a tour de force that out-Stoppards Stoppard. On stage, you can look at whomever you like. On film, the director/editor would direct your attention by his/her cuts.

This is a brilliant production of a brilliant play.

[Vijay Mathew]

Thanks for your comment. I agree, I think 'verbal fugues' rarely appear in film or tv (except maybe in film musicals and music videos). It's a stylistic device that's not naturalism and creates multiple focus on stage - something that you point out is more theatrical than cinematic.

[David Dower]

I also think the second act scene with Beethoven composing the fugue is something truly theatrical in the sense Moises is talking about. There's something particularly "live" about it that would pale in a filmic treatment of the same idea. That she's playing it live, for one thing, adds a level of excitement to the moment. And then, for me, the remarkably tight collaboration the two performers have to have through that fugue to stay in synch on it is exhilarating. There's no "take two" here, no "fixing it in post". If either of them stumbles, they will both fall, and you can feel their connection as it flies by.