Sourdough Philosophy Spectacle – Bread and Puppet Theater

Ruth and I went to see the Sourdough Philosophy Spectacle by the Bread and Puppet Theater at Cyclorama in Boston.   8 puppeteers, augmented by a host of volunteers, provided a show steeped in ’60’s leftist values, as evidenced by this description:

“The Sourdough Philosophy Spectacle” is about the need for human fermentation. It takes a lesson from how apple cider is made. Our republic teases us with the possibility of democracy, but citizens are raised like military apple orchards, pruned down to their predictable minimums, yielding controlled fruits that lack the ecstasy of nature. However, human fermentation occurs in parts of the human body that are not governed by the government, like the guts and the gutsy parts of the brain. Fermented citizens are corrupted by the ecstasy of nature and from that corruption, derive strength to corrupt military orchard citizens. The show is run by a bunch of cooks, specialists in cooking the various stews and pancakes of our everyday first world existence. “

It’s more performance art than anything with a coherent plot, but it’s saved from much of the pretension of the genre by the use of Cheap Art, paper-mache, cardboard and the like.  The friendly comfort of the setting allowed us to enjoy the spectacle for what it was without worrying too much about understanding the deeper message every single minute.

As we approached Cyclorama, we were greeted outside by a brass band and dancing  cooks.  We went inside and sat down.  At showtime, the band and the cooks entered, cheerfully setting the stage.

The cooks were the focus of the first half of the show:

Imposing paper-mache puppets represented something bad, I’m sure:

In the second half of the show, the core puppeteers manned a divided stage, with the action moving from side to side through six acts:

The cooks provided continuity:

Finally, the message was pounded home:

Yes, we’re all in the same boat.  I get it.  Bread and Puppet Theater may be dancing on the deck of the Titanic, but they’re not doing it obliviously.

On the way out, we were offered a free bread and oil snack and the opportunity to buy some hand-crafted art.  The items for sale were refreshingly affordable.

In their head – Tell it

Should I report Professor Muwabi?  I don’t know what to do.  We’re doing good work.  I know that if we just keep looking we will find a tweak to the compound that does what we want.  We just haven’t found it yet.

I don’t know why he felt like he had to fake the data.  People will realize what valuable work we’re doing.  They’ll re-fund our grant even though we’ve made limited progress so far.  They’ll have to. We just need some time.

Doesn’t Muwabi believe in our work? Why did he fake the data in the grant application?  That’s just wrong.  I gotta do something.  But who’s going to believe me?

Either way, I’m screwed.  If people believe me, I lose my job because our grant isn’t funded.  If they don’t believe me, I’m out of my job because they’ll paint me as a liar.  And whether they believe me or not, some people are going to be out to get me because I’m a whistleblower.  That’s going to make it a lot harder to get another job.

I can’t let this go.  I’d never be able to live with myself.  I wish I never started this job.

In their head – Ready to take a chance again

I think I’ll go out with Bruce.  I should give him a chance.  He’s a nice guy, he just needs a little more confidence in himself.  He’s not the best looking guy in the world, but he’s not bad.  He’s got a cute smile, and when he looks at me I get the feeling he’s there with me, not thinking about something else.

I just wish I was sure.  I don’t want to settle.  I know I’m not the prettiest girl or the most interesting person.  But I deserve to be happy, don’t I?  I wish I knew what would make me happy.

I wonder where we’ll go?  Dinner and a movie?  Maybe the movie first, then we’ll have something to talk about at dinner.  It’s so hard to get to know somebody.  I’m always afraid that I’m going to say the wrong thing. Then you do get to know them, and you’ve got nothing left to talk about.  Sometimes I don’t know why I bother.  I wish I didn’t get so lonely.

In their head – It’s not about you

“Oh my god!  They’re selling drugs right out on the street!  I think they are.  What else could it be?  Can’t they take that inside somewhere?  Or at least to a side street?  How can they get away with that?  If I can see it, why can’t a cop?  Why doesn’t someone do something?

“Oh my god!  They’re looking at me now! Gotta look away.  I hope they didn’t notice me.  If they think I saw their deal, they might come after me!  If they sell drugs in public, who knows what else they might do?  Maybe they’re already high?  Maybe they need money for more drugs?  Maybe they’ll come and take my backpack!  I gotta look back and see if they’re still watching me. 

“Oh my god!  They are!  I better leave!  Can’t run – they might think I’m afraid. Maybe that I’ve got something worth stealing.  I’ve got to go now! I’ll be safe in Starbucks!  Hurry!”

In their head – Marlboro man

“Damn, I look good!  Got the scruffy beard thing going, got the shades, got the cool vest and helmet.  Chicks dig the uniform.  And in just a minute, I’ll have a huge pole between my legs.  Another huge pole!

“Hate this winter stuff though.  The girls are all covered up.  Can’t wait for spring, when the heavy coats come off and the tight tops come out.

“Whoa!  I think I just saw a thong through the tights stretched across that bike rider’s butt!”

In their head – Thinking it through

I have no faith.  None at all.

I don’t believe in a supreme being.  How could there be one?  Any so-called god would impose a lot more structure on us that actually exists.  If there’s no discernable link between our actions and god’s reaction, then either there’s no god, or god has no interest in our actions, which amounts to the same thing.

I have no faith in other people.  You can’t count on anyone to do what you predict.  They always have their own interests, or they’re having a bad day or not feeling well.

I have no faith in the natural world.  How can you know the sun will come up tomorrow?  How do you know for sure that if you release an apple it will fall to the ground?  Just because it always has doesn’t mean that it always will.  And what about magic?

I have no faith that anything I do will have any result, let alone the one I want.  So I do nothing.

Watch out where the huskies go…

I’m not sure that’s the sort of massage I want.

In their head – Rough surfing ahead

“For the last 8 years I’ve been like the character MacLyle in Ted Sturgeon’s “And Now the News.”  I’ve been avoiding paying close attention to news reports because almost everything I heard made me angry and frustrated.  At least I avoided MacLyle’s fate.  I didn’t flip out and go a killing spree, no matter how attractive that option was for other people, terrorists and government officials alike. 

 ”Now that Bush is gone I’ve been dabbling in looking at the news again.  Early stories are encouraging.  Obama already has a announced that he’s rescinding some of the more odious executive orders issued by Bush, including rolling back the use of torture and limiting the use of executive privilege to keep information from the public.

“The changes in news delivery have accelerated over the last eight years.  If I’m going to pay attention to the news now, I have to figure out how.  Back in the day I could just pick up a newspaper and still get pretty much everything I needed to know.  Now newspapers are dying and they can’t afford to provide the sort of broad coverage they used to.  More and more information is out on the Internet on various websites and blogs.  The trick is going to be getting everything I want without spending my whole day surfing the Internet.  I’ll have to be careful to get information from a variety of sources, not just ones with biases that I agree with.  It’d also be handy to have a cheap and convenient way to browse without being tethered to a cumbersome laptop and network connection.  It’s going to take awhile to sort it all out, especially since no one else has it right yet.

“Oh well.  Confused is better than angry.”

No Ice Cream for Me

As I’ve mentioned before, one of the things I’m going to have to do when I get my driver’s license back is have an ignition interlock device installed in my car. The interlock will force me to take a breathalyzer test before I can start the car and at random intervals while I’m driving, to ensure that I don’t drink and drive.

This is not only inconvenient and expensive (I’ll have to pay for installation and removal of the device and for monthly inspections), but it puts me at risk of going to jail for a false positive result.  For example, an Australian man had to go to court because an ice cream treat caused him to blow a positive number on his interlock device.

The lesson, as always, is don’t get caught drinking and driving in the first place.

In their head – Prove it

“Thank God they set me free.  I wonder what they did?  I don’t feel any different.  I wonder if I should have a doctor look at me.  I don’t know what I’d tell him when he asks why I came in.  He won’t believe the truth.  Nobody will.  No one will ever believe that I was abducted by aliens.  I wouldn’t if it hadn’t happened to me.  Maybe the CSI guys could look for traces of alien stuff left behind? 

“I wonder why they picked me?  That can’t be all they wanted.  What else are they going to do?  I should warn people, but I have no idea who would listen.  Maybe they’ll follow up with a visit to Washington to see the President?  I hope they mention me.  Then maybe I could get on Oprah and be famous.  First person to make contact with aliens!  I hope I was first.  What if they’ve been picking up lots of people?  What if they visit some other country instead, and don’t mention me at all?”