The Sound and the Fury
text by William Faulkner
created and performed by Elevator Repair Service
directed by John Collins
Public Theatre
June 30, 2015

Production website.     💉💉  out of 5.  My brain hurts.

Wow! Expressionism simmer down! The theatre company Elevator Repair Service never to be blamed for making safe choices, is tackling The Sound and the Fury? Come on! Adapted for the opening section, the one told by the “idiot” — a man who had been “3 years old for 30 years.” This incredibly dense play demands a reader’s patience as a character picks up an actual copy of the Faulkner novel and begins to read it – – and from the reading comes character – and from the character we going on an epic expressionistic roller coaster. Imagine expressionism through the eyes of a three your old child?!

There is almost too much fury for me to take it in. Just as I get to own the connections between the novel and the play, just as I remember the broken, toxic relationships of this Southern family, everyone switches characters and we start line-dancing. I KNOW it all works. I KNOW it makes perfect sense of this novel – – but I just wanted a safety bar or harness for this roller coaster – – something to hold on to as the next curves come. This would have been so much better the second viewing – I KNOW ITl Back in school, I think I too wanted a second reading before the final – – but I made do with what the evening gave me. God bless Expressionism!