OFF THE MAP: It's Dark Outside - Media Convergence Done Right

On a spur of the moment, I decided to go view It's Dark Outside, an abstract theater performance that is devoid of dialogue. I had a mild interest because I heard it was very "different" than typical shows that come to BYU. That was pretty much the only expectations I had going in to it. Coming out of it, I was impressed, astonished, and had an overall feeling of melancholy.

It's Dark Outside tells an interesting story. It features an old man who has Sundowning Syndrome, a common malady that elderly people have, where they experience dimentia, particularly in the late evening time as the sun goes down. This man revists old memories, experiences hallucinations, and tries to run away from a man who is persuing him. It's a simple story, but very subject to interpretation, as it's unclear what things are happening in real life, and what are happening in the old man's head.

What's extraordinary about the story, however, is how it is told. There are three actors (all from Perth, Australia) that use a variety of things to progress the narrative: puppetry, masks, costumes, animations, props, shadow puppets, strobe lights, and music. Each one of these is skillfully executed together with other elements to create a very unique experience. One example that really stood out to me happened in the middle of the play. The old man (an actor wearing a mask) hears approaching footsteps (done in the audio track), so he runs away off stage, which transitions to him in animation form on a screen, running through a Western movie-esque landscape. Soon after, his persuexer appears (as a shadow from behind the screen), brandishing a butterfly net, slowly moving in the same direction, and interacting with other lights and animations. It's not very long before the old man re-enters the stage, but this time as a minature puppet, operated by 2-3 of the actors. It's this seamless transition between mediums that makes it easy to become enraptured with the show. I have never before seen something that uses so many widely different forms of performance and new media so well, and without a word spoken the entire time.

Beyond the novelty of it all, It's Dark Outside uses its many different elements to help the audience get a feel for what the main character is experiencing. Obviously you can't say that it's the perfect representation of what dimentia is like, but rather it helps you empathize with those who have it. Annie Dillard, for example, writes about how the world can be experienced in different ways. This is especially true for people born blind who regain their sight — each one reacted to the lights in colors in many different ways. In Dillard's case, her descriptive and poetic words help us as readers visualize her experiences with nature, as if we were in her shoes. Likewise, It's Dark Outside achieves a similar effect. The audience is presented some things that are very abstract, and left to ponder what it would be like to have dimentia. Or, perhaps the show reminds them of someone they know or are close to that is going through it. For me, I found myself contemplating how short life is.

And in the end, that's the beauty of art - every person who sees it can take something different from it.