From November 11-19th, one of the Cerebral Palsy Association of BC’s most active and enthusiastic Youth Without Limits participants, Taewoon Kook, acted in a play titled The Ridiculous Darkness. The play ran at the Orpheum Annex in downtown Vancouver and drew positive reviews for its inclusion and interactivity.
“The play is a stage adaption of a multi-award-winning radio text by Wolfram Lotz. The Ridiculous Darkness is a satirical modern mash-up of the classic novel Heart of Darkness and the Oscar-winning film Apocalypse Now. When two soldiers enter a foreign (to them) land to retrieve a fellow comrade who has gone rogue, the local communities and inhabitants encounter them one by one, and the journey becomes an earnest – albeit hilarious – exploration of how difficult yet vital it is to understand “the other”.”
The Georgia Straight states “I doubt you’ll find another show this season that manages to cram as much humanity—in all its dazzling variety—onto the stage as The Ridiculous Darkness. The play is both deadly serious about “the horror” that people inflict on each other in the name of “civilization” and endlessly flippant about how it makes its points.”
“Clocking in at just over two-and-a-half hours, The Ridiculous Darkness sometimes feels like it’s trying to do too many things at once. But it’s doing more things—and different things—than many shows even attempt. For that ambition, for that big, vivid display of humanity, and for its inclusiveness in its efforts to bridge distance and difference with compassion and understanding, I’m grateful.” – Kathleen Oliver
