A Strange Loop is a play about a young fat black man who is also writing a play about a man writing a play. Or at least that is how I understood it. I found that is play was very confusing yet relatable, in that often we get caught up in our own heads. Like making up situations and placing people in our lives in them. Then making up how they would react and who the conversations would play out.
Since we have all read this play, I will not be summarizing, rather explaining how I understood the play, what it means to me. Also, I will be explaining why this play, why now and why in Lawrence, Kansas. I will also be explaining the slides within my Pecha Kucha and why they are important. Again, this is more of my experience with the play and where I think it should go.
To start of with I will be explaining the slides in my Pecha Kucha. My first slide I just provided a picture of the cover of what is a good representation of the play. The boy looking into himself in an infinite loop is a good representation of itself. The next picture is of a theater is because that is where the play is based and in an infinite loop. The next two photos are about Usher being in the spotlight and that there are constant eyes on him, even if those eyes are his own.
The next photo represents part of the reason I think this play is so important right now. The photo is of a man’s head, but with a bunch of other people’s heads making up the head. It is almost a multi-personality type description. But the saying that someone is in their head is where I think the play is so important. During COVID-19 many of us were left with our own though and alone because we could not come into contact with people. After COVID-19, now, many of us are still in that mind space where we think we all must deal with everything on our own. This is not the case, people like Usher should be able to express their feels openly and have people listen. This play would be good to encourage people to talk about their feelings and help make people feel less alone.
The next slide is just how this play felt to me, it felt like a dream within a dream within a dream. The slide after that is a picture of two gay men, this is what Usher always dreamed of having, but to me it seemed, like he felt like he didn’t deserve to get what he wanted. Although he would not give himself what he wanted he felt shame for thinking about doing sexual activities with men. He still did and then was shunned by the motherly figure in his mind and thus shunned by God. The punishment for gayness from God is AIDs which Ushers Uncle sadly passed away from, this is show in slides nine, ten and eleven.
Even though, they say that the consequence of gayness is AIDs, and his uncle dies from such, still Usher can not help but think about making love to another man. This where we come to the end of the play. Usher decides to go with his gut and his true feelings and turnabout from God. He refused to deny his feeling any longer.
So why else is this play important? Well, it strongly represents the importance of talking to someone and going to therapy if you are having this much internal conflict. Second, this is important and relevant to Lawrence, Kansas because we do accept the LGBTQ+ community here and it think that this play overall would relate to many people and help show those who don’t quite understand what it is like. Furthermore, just the talk of human sexuality is very important, this is the 21st century and we should be able to talk about our sexuality and not be judged. Along with this though, it is important to wear protection and be conscious of others.
Lastly, I think this play would be best preformed in an area type theater or a triangle shape type, like the Inge. So, the audience can see the actors from all sides. This play is meant to be all black actors which adds the struggle of racism especially when apart of the queer community as well. It is important for us to not see color, but still recognize the obstacles that more difficult for others. We must all support each other and not judge those based on sexuality and especially not race. Overall, A Strange Loop was a very confusing, yet inspirational play. We must all remember that we are not alone.
Regan, I liked how you touched on how COVID has influenced our psyche as a community. I also think that having a show that displays emotional vulnerability that touches on so many common human experiences is so valuable. Although it follows the story of a gay black man, the other elements surrounding it are themes applicable to many people. I thought this was really powerful because it highlights the ways in which our experiences vary and influences the way we grow up, while simultaneously showing the life events that everyone can relate to.
Yes, in some ways You don’t even have to go through of what the character was living to feel that empathy and relate to. And I too also consider that it is important to talk about the sexuality themes that the play entails and provide some education on it. Nice job and presentation, Regan!