"But of course, the 1975 production at Stratford just knocked spots off that modern version they did at the National last year. You know - the one with all the nudity and the swearing."
"Ah, but surely the swearing was valid, wasn't it? I mean, the piece is full of energy and passion, and for most people it would be perfectly natural to swear in some of the positions those characters are put in. Besides, I think Baum's original vision was obviously to make more of the sexual tensions inherent in the main group of protagonists. It was only prudish self-censorship that led to the storyline being neutered."
"Yes, maybe.. now that I think of it, it's clear that the two characters who are artificially created are, being sans genitalia, a reference to castration, symbolic of the malaise of the male condition as a whole in a post-feminist world."
A young man who hasn't been able to help overhearing this dialogue rounds on them. "Oh, for god's sake! It's just the Wizard of sodding Oz! Will you people get a grip?"
Posted by mpk at May 19, 2004 11:16 AM | TrackBack