About This Show
Leave it to the various forms of theater to hold a mirror, as it were, up to the changing mind of the body politic. In the aftermath of the Iran Contra affair, Oliver Stone’s J.F.K. portrayed the Kennedy assassination as the action of a rogue cell in the intelligence services. Following 9/11, The Life and Times of Lee Harvey Oswald by Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre more or less portrays the assassination as a security blunder which could have been prevented.
The troupe’s artistic director, Vit Horejs, takes the main characters, represents them as a peculiar cross between Greek tragic figures and stock characters from old puppet murder tales, and portrays them as inexorably approaching the Grassy Knoll through their lives, guided by fate like marionettes by their strings. A chorus of FBI, KGB, FOD (Fairies of Destiny), and TV agents warn them in vain to avoid the path of destruction. Wurlitzer organ, accordion and percussion score, ’60s hits and sound effects comment on the actions and guide the stringed players through their unavoidable acts.
A cast of over 50 eight-inch marionettes by Milos Kasal and a dozen dummies for the chorus by Václav Krcál will interact with eight live performers.
The Thursday, June 3 performance is a benefit that includes a reception. Tickets are $35.00.