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IN ON IT Performance Response Dada Kamera’s performance In On It showcased in the Fresh Terrain Festival is a powerful performance of two gay men, This One and That One, who are working on play within a play. The play they are working on is the story of a man who has just found out that he is terminally ill and only has a short time to live. He tries to tell his son who shuts him out. He tries to tell his wife, and she leaves him for another man. In the end, just before he drives his “blue Mercedes Benz” into oncoming traffic, he leaves his life insurance policy to the wife and son of the man who left with his wife. This One and That One are victims of the “accident” because one of them is driving the car that the man hits, leaving the other to tell the tragic story. The play confronts issues of relationships, both homosexual and heterosexual. These two cultures collide in the end - literally. Although it is merely by chance, it still points out the conflicted intersection of these two cultures. But more importantly, it reminds me to cherish every moment. It is through powerful lighting design that I am able to follow the complexity of the play and the various storylines that emerge. The two characters work in three different realities and storylines - moving back and forth from one to another. One reality is the two men working on a play in front of the audience and even breaking the fourth wall at times. Another reality is the characters within the play they are working on. The final reality is the remembered thoughts of the men about their own relationship. The ability to move in and out of these realities could be confusing but are seamless to me, due largely to the light designs choices. As the show begins, the more than sufficient bright white house lights fade to complete blackness as a single ray of deep, blue light rises. It is focused tightly on something on the floor.
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