NEWS OF THE WORLD

Date and Venue 26 March- 4 April @ 8 pm Vivo Media Arts (1965 Main St., Vancouver)

Reviewer Ed Farolan

The show had an interesting format. Multimedia.  We were all sitting in a dinner theatre ambience and while the audience was coming in, news from CTV live was being screened in three background areas of the stage.

The night started off with a survey on what Issues we were concerned  or “anxious” about in the news, We were asked to fill out forms which was discussed in some kind of a question and answer format later in the play.  When the show started, a tongue-in-cheek rap song reflecting the kind of news we watch today was screened.

Afterwards, volunteers were asked to come up (I thought they were planted, but they weren’t) and were asked questions about issues such as Canada’s involvement in the Afghan war, gang violence and other Canadian concerns.  One volunteer had to play the part of CTV anchorwoman Mi-Jung Lee. As the audience got involved in this interactive exchange, google items on news happening today as well as live TV news were flashed on screen.

It's all done through computers online -- everything that’s happening today – youtube (I even saw myself in the audience), google, email and TV which can be flashed with one click on the keyboard..
Interview from members of the audience which took place during the launch of the show earlier in the week were also flashed, with questions like,  “Who do you trust more, a TV producer or a playwright?”  Most answered, “A playwright”.  Or another question”Whom do you trust?  An actor or an announcer?”  Again, the answers were mostly “An actor”, which just shows that the majority of people watching news can no longer believe what’s happening.  Sensationalism, “selling” news to the public to make a profit are now the objectives of media, and no longer the search for truth.

And this is precisely what the creators of this show want to bring out: whether news is reliable or nbot.  David Bloom, actor/creator and artistic director of this company gave his opinion, stating that it depends on one’s point of view.  What it boils down to is that you just have to make your own decision after being bombarded by different perspectives and points of view we get from media.

Sites of Anne Coulter, Counterpunch were googled in, and that was interesting for members in the audience who didn’t even know these sites existed. The venue for the show was quite appropriate—one of the media locales in Vancouver—Vivo Media Arts. The company? Felix Culpa, a Latin phrase that literally translated means a "blessed fault" or "fortunate fall".

Well, in a way, we’re somewhat blessed with human faults through media. As last century's media specialist Marshall MacLuhan put it, "the medium is the message", and it's so true these days as most of the time, content no longer matters.

© 2009 Ed Farolan