The Human Condition

Don't stop me if you've heard this before. I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating and it relates to my trip.

The human condition has at its core a terrible contradiction. We are constantly trying to distinguish ourselves from one another whilst also constantly trying to connect with each other. We are all the same and at the same time none of us are the same. One of the reasons that I love stories in any medium (books, movies, television, theater, music, etc.) so much is that they are at once unique little snowflakes and at the same time they are all the same.

When a story is told well it can make you feel connected to the entirety of the human experience by showing you a single moment of that terrible contradiction that is inherent in humanity. It takes a good writer to start with, regardless of the medium. If the medium is dramatic (film, TV, or theater) it also takes a great actor; someone who can bring to life that contradiction.

The reason I came here, to New Zealand, was to see a play. I know there are those of you who think I'm crazy. People look at me with some combination of confusion, awe, and fear when I tell them I flew halfway around the world to see a show. They gave me the same look when I flew to Boston for a weekend to see The Glass Menagerie (and that was only a 5 hour flight). I get it, I do, it's a long way to travel for one night of entertainment, and obviously I'm doing more than just seeing the show here in New Zealand (and did more in Boston as well), but I don't think there's any distance too far to travel to experience a moment of true connection to the human experience and I knew (from seeing him in The Almighty Johnsons) that Emmett Skilton has the talent to bring a moment like that to life. And I could guess, from reading the description of the play and the story of how it came to Auckland, that Between Two Waves likely contained a few of those moments.

Between Two Waves is amazing. It's a story that needs to be told as much as possible in as many venues as possible. It speaks eloquently and subtly about anxiety and depression, and less subtly about climate change and relationships. It speaks about the sometimes extremely complicated and sometimes very simple chain of causes and effects. It speculates about cures, about what can be cured and what cannot. It's a wonderful, beautifully written story (by Ian Meadows).

Both the producer (Leanne Frisbie) and director (Peter Feeney) took to the stage and played parts. They, and the leading lady Shara Connolly, were phenomenal. They are all obviously talented actors but I think a deeper connection to the story is also evident in their performances.

It was Emmett Skilton though who brought to life the terrible contradiction of the human condition. He was the one who showed that we're all in this together yet also completely alone.

Normally, those moments in great stories, the moments that make you feel connected to the entirety of the human experience, are fleeting, just a few seconds, but today, 18 hours after seeing Between Two Waves, as I sat on the beach, the feeling was still with me. That was the power of Emmett Skilton's performance. That is what a great actor can do.