“Tell me everything.”
The phrase may not be uttered in every case, but it’s the implicit demand of every talk show host, interviewer and media personality around. We want to know everything of our representatives, sure, but now we push the Average Joe for every detail of his life.
Had sextuplets? Crashed the White House? Cashed in your 15 minutes of fame?
“Tell me everything.”
It’s the line that everyman Michael Majeski is prompted with repeatedly by the media. And it’s the aftermath and unraveling of that question that is in the spotlight of Valparaiso.
Don Delillo’s postmodern meditation on the media centers on Majeski, a normal American business man who was supposed to get on a plane en route to Valparaiso, IN. A change in itinerary takes him instead to Valparaiso, FL and finally, Valparaiso, Chile. When he returns, his quirky travel story has become an insatiable item of interest for the media. It’s from there that the bombardment begins.
“His ultimate function is to for people to rethink how they think of fame, to rethink their idea of being the center of such massive attention,” said Santiago Sosa, who plays Majeski. “Some people think it would be great to famous and get all of this stuff, but I think this character in this play has a lot to do with saying, “‘Is that what you really want?'”
Those familiar with the work of Delillo’s most famous novel, “White Noise,” will no doubt understand the pervasiveness of the media in Valparaiso, but be faced with its increased intensity: What was once waves and radiation is now a full-integration into the fabric of life, where privacy is nearly impossible.
Director Jeremy Thomas Poulsen, the director of the University Theatre production, said the play really speaks to the way that normal people have been turned into “idols” to be worshipped, especially given the advent of reality television.
“I think it brings about fantastic questions as to how we interact media, what kind of control media has over us as people and the more we go along, the more media we end up having,” Poulsen said. “Now we’re using iPhones, iPads and we’re always connected, so it brings about a good question: Is the media in control of us or are we controlling the media”?
Controlling the media is actually key to the production itself: unlike most narrative productions, Valparaiso infuses the production with pre-taped videos, snippets of audio and what is occasionally characterized as very “in your face” media, by assistant director and choreographer Lauren Peterson.
Aside from the pulsating static and messages emanating from the numerous projectors and speakers on stage, Peterson also has the task of choreographing Delillo’s makeshift Greek chorus: a group of flight attendants. While the original text is read in a choral style, the UT production mixes in a high level of energy by turning the lines into lyrics, set to musical interludes.
If the play seems a bit inaccessible, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Sosa, who’s far more accustomed to the works of Shakespeare, has delved into the scope of the play through multiple readings and still comes away with new meanings for his character and the play at large.
So how do explain a play like Valparaiso to an audience without giving away the dark twist in the second act?
“It sort of reminds me of a David Lynch film, “Sosa said. “He has a way with words and images and commentary…and his films are so surreal and dreamlike and then there will be something normal and dreamlike. David Lynch onstage is a good way to think about it. ”
“Valparaiso” runs October 22,23, 27-29, October 31 at 2:00 pm, and November 4-6 at 7:30 pm. A pre-performance lecture will be held at the Oct. 28 performance and a post-performance discussion will be held on Nov. 4.
