By Steven T. Jones, aka Scribe
A couple months ago, when I heard first about “A Burning Opera: How to Survive the Apocalypse,” I rolled my eyes. Burning Man has inspired some very good and very bad art and for some reason I assumed that a musical telling the story of the event would hew toward the latter category.
Boy, was I wrong! I attended opening night and was struck by how this play – created by Mark Nichols, Erik Davis and Christopher Fulling-McCall – is both engrossing musical theater in its own right and a piece of art that truly captures the feel of the event and the Zeitgeist of its attendees.
The play’s central conflicts – humans vs. nature, ravers vs. punks, chaos vs. control, Larry Harvey vs. John Law (who sat in front of me and said he enjoyed the play about an event he helped create but left in frustration in 1996) – are deftly woven into a storyline that traces the journey of a trio of newbies and an event that has grown from a small gathering on Baker Beach to the most profound and enduring countercultural phenomenon of our time.
But this play would never use that last phrase. Yes, this musical is certainly an ode to something its creators love, but its strength comes for its clear-eyed, warts and all view of the event and its attendees. It skillfully walks the line between the Law and Harvey views and balances the event’s spiritual, silly and bacchanalian aspects in a way that, well, got me really excited to return to the playa this year.
And now, dear readers, the bad news: Its two-weekend run at Stagewerx Theatre is sold out. But executive producer Dana Harrison (dana@burningopera.com) says she’s looking for ways to extend the run somewhere here in town, so stay tuned.