Humans are shitty.

As I think back on the past handful of shows we've seen, I can't help but notice a thread of shit. And I am not necessarily talking about 120 Days of Sodom where humans actually did eat shit.... (The chairs in the theatre should have been equipped with a little barf bag). I am more talking about the way humans behave towards other humans.

Yes, Sodom was disgusting. But, dare I say, I think that that situation would be possible, heaven forbid. It's within human capability. I am capable of performing those horrendous acts on someone else. It's scary, but it's true. Perhaps the show was a warning against humanity becoming that depraved.

Stranger taught us that all of us have this learned proclivity to quickly judge someone's appearance, consciously or unconsciously, and make instant assumptions about who they are, or where their life will lead. That's a shitty realization about humans. But I guess we can't deny our own corporeality.

Bella Figura, although I didn't understand the themes of the show due to the language barrier, had an undertone of embarrassment, or shame. The characters seemed to have done some shitty things, and regretted it. Perhaps the insect motif was to aid the feeling of trying to shake something off of you.

The Lower Depths, was a more of a visual illustration of how dirty humanity can be. The brown mud sliding down the ramp was a nice metaphor for the grimy people who were splashing in its puddles. Murder, adultery, giving false hope: just a few of the nasty actions performed by humans in the show.

In this respect, the theatre we've seen (and perhaps theatre at large) is a moral compass, as it were; a guide towards the "right" and away from the "wrong." (I use quotation marks because, for me, it's never black and white.) I loved the image in Lower Depths of the people desperately trying to get out, by climbing up and slipping back down the ramp - a literal and figurative struggle to get out of their current shitty conditions.

Maybe it's for catharsis - we can watch other people do horrible things so we don't have to. Maybe it's a way of helping us realize that our lives are really not that bad after all. Or maybe it's just interesting to watch. It's kind of juicy to see people behaving foully. But, shit, man. When you really think about it, humans are so shitty.

I guess what I'm saying is that I was happy to see a giant flying orca on stage last night.