Testament: A Brave and Important Piece

taken from website http://www.sheshepop.de/produktionen/testament.html

“If King Lear had understood differential equations, he would have proceeded differently.” Not to give you the impression that Testament is a light analysis of King Lear that doesn't take itself seriously. The actors in She She Pop and their fathers open up a frank discussion about familial obligation, the nature of love and the fear of growing old. It gets really personal. It gets really uncomfortable. And it gets really beautiful.

I really don't want to go too much into the content of the piece, it's better if you discover it for yourself and everything is well explained. However, there are two things you should know:

  1. The play is in German, there are subtitles, it's easy to follow.

  2. The play is two hours with no intermission. You won't notice, you'll be too caught up in the action.

What I found really remarkable was the willingness of these non-actor fathers to take part in such an exposing experimental piece. And to tour it with their children! I can only imagine what it would mean to me if my father were to make that kind of commitment, such a show of support, especially knowing about the doubts that these fathers had during the process. It takes a lot of courage to take part in this public discussion of personal fears, pain and joy.

 

I'm so glad that She She Pop have done this piece. I don't think this is a subject broached enough in theatre. The awkwardness and anger and potential lack of dignity that comes with aging, the inevitable reversal of roles between child and parent. We like to glossify it and pretend that we'll all age gracefully. Or we just ignore it completely. Every time I see King Lear I think “Someone needs to open up a dialogue about the themes here. It's really important, the generational gap is just getting bigger and none of us knows how to deal with it.” so I want to thank She She Pop for creating this piece and I encourage anyone who has parents and anyone who is a parent to please see it. You won't agree with everything that's presented here, that's the point, but it opens the discussion. Let's open minds and hearts to the possibility of communication.

By Danielle Benzon