Chuck Mee’s “Paradise Park” @ Signature Theatre

“Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest is real, when in fact all of Los Angeles and the America surrounding it are no longer real, but of the order of the hyperreal and of simulation. It is no longer a question of a false representation of reality (ideology), but of concealing the fact that the real is no longer real, and thus of saving the reality principle.” –Jean Baudrillard

Words are never spoken with one voice in a Mee play. Feelings, sentences, actions, and poetics are all pieced together out of the cultural items made available to his characters. There is the thing on its surface, the meaning it has inherited from the history of the fragments that construct it, and the multiple readings made available to those interacting with it.

In “Paradise Park” fragmentary characters wander around in a carnival wasteland of American amusement in search of the ultimate escapist vacation: love. These are not genuine people and this is not a genuine world. This is entertainment. These characters have been voluntarily lost for days, weeks, years and play silly little games that occasionally are mistaken for genuine interaction.

All of the devices you would expect to be in place in a production of a play that utilizes this dialogic style were: video projections, microphones, voice overs, breaks in the time/space frame. Although these devices are used generically to fairly pointless effect in half the shows in New York at this point, this production used them in justifiable ways for occasionally stunning effect.

Nonetheless, as a whole the production ended up feeling sort of flat and simplified. None of the choices seemed incorrect, but they had a formulaic, “decided in advance” quality to them that read, frankly, as shallow. Maybe the standard Off-Broadway production/rehearsal schedule isn’t particularly conducive to creating poly-vocal work.

To conclude, please consider Dollywood’s take on the intersection of entertainment and meaning:

Mission & Core Values

We Create Memories Worth Repeating^TM

• We Greatly Exceed Customer Expectations
  With distinctive, themed, entertaining experiences for every member of the family.
  With genuinely friendly, caring people who take pride in what they do.
• We Serve Others
  By working as a team and empowering each other.
  By being patient, kind, humble, respectful, selfless, forgiving, honest and committed.
• We Create Emotional Connections
  By treating guests like members of our family.
  By providing shared experiences that bring families closer together.
• We Constantly Improve
  By adapting to our guests’ changing expectation.
  By managing safety, security, risk and resources.
  By investing in people and products to produce growth and provide a reasonable return on our investment.
• All in a Manner Consistent with Christian Values and Ethics

Note: All tickets to Signature shows are $20. That’s a bargain in this town.

http://www.signaturetheatre.org

http://www.charlesmee.org/