I Would Never...
Sep. 19th, 2005 02:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidLast night I had the opportunity to go to a reading of I Would Never..., by Susan Corso. It's a one-woman show, and the reading was by the author, a look at how one person broke the cycle of abuse, and not only got out, but healed from it. I was anticipating something that would be hard to experience, but it wasn't like that. There were moments when violence was described, certainly, but the play itself is not depressing, but affirming: people can survive abuse, and grow beyond that experience, rather than letting that alone define them. And it shows how it's not only poor people or minorities or whatever category; no one is exempt due to education, or money, or gender.
Throughout the reading, the person who abused her is referred to as "the abuser," or, if a pronoun was necessary, "it". Having the pronoun be that less-than-human one worked to remind me of her view throughout, that no abuser can be summed up only by that description. The person is a range of things, including that, which she sees as the less-than-fully-human part.
I was glad for the feedback session afterward, the opportunity to talk with the writer/actor and the director, and have the chance to compare notes with the rest of the audience.
Throughout the reading, the person who abused her is referred to as "the abuser," or, if a pronoun was necessary, "it". Having the pronoun be that less-than-human one worked to remind me of her view throughout, that no abuser can be summed up only by that description. The person is a range of things, including that, which she sees as the less-than-fully-human part.
I was glad for the feedback session afterward, the opportunity to talk with the writer/actor and the director, and have the chance to compare notes with the rest of the audience.