Why can't anyone write a full complete thought in song form anymore?  I have a playlist on my iTunes that syncs to my iPhone which is all music that I haven't ever listened to in my iTunes library.  Recently I've had a string of newer Hip-Hop, Alternative, Rock, and Pop and I'm a little annoyed with what I've been hearing.

It's not the quality of the songs, or the accompaniments, or the simplicity or intricacy of the musical writing, what has been annoying me specifically is what I call "Twitter" lyric writing.  In other words, lyrics which serve only to be smart or clever to themselves.  Lyrics which rhyme, and complete a thought short enough to be encapsulated in a twitter update.  The more clever of these lyrics start with a very convoluted, dense, and undecipherable sentence, they then add a "because" or a "so" or a "when" or some other word meaning "check out what comes next to wrap up the phrase".  They then end with a equally convoluted, but more decipherable sentence which helps to explain the last one.  Afterward we move on to a completely new thought, and a completely new set of lyrics which also could be their own twitter status'.

Let me give you an example:

This means, literally nothing in relation to compared to the moral/meaning of the song, it is simply a clever lyric designed to make people impressed with Owl City's lyrical prowess. 

There are some rules in my book about current art about what I will enjoy, in generalizations.  I tend to not be a fan of what I call the "angsty" musicals, because when done well, with great storytelling, they can be fantastic, but generally the productions fall into the angst.  I don't like shows where the message is more important than the story, I would rather see a show that has a profound message, but if all I wanted was to watch a story and not get it, I could.  I am getting tired of plays/movies about the Holocaust.  I tend to dislike child actors before I like them. (The exception to this, of course, being Henry Thomas' audition for E.T. for the role of Elliot.  That is officially the greatest example of acting of all time, and since seeing this video I have considered dropping from the profession because I will never, ever be this good in my lifetime.  Ever)

Jokes aside, all I knew about "And a Child Shall Lead" before I walked into HERE Arts Center on thursday, October 25th, was that it was a play about a Jewish Concentration camp, and it featured almost entirely a cast of children.  Needless to say I was a bit nervous, because it broke two of my rules.  I mainly was going to see it because a good portion of the production team are my good friends, and my dear friend Ethan Itzkow (one of the two actors over the age of 20) was playing one of the main characters.

I had no need to be nervous at all.  The play was absolutely stunning from start to finish.  Laura Luc's direction is just short of miraculous.  I may not be giving these amazingly talented kids enough credit, but it is hard work as a director to create a play which relies heavily on children for the dramatic weight of the show and the forwarding of the plot, and she got some amazing work out of this cast.  

The play takes place in Terezín Concentration Camp during the nazi reign in Europe.  It takes place in two barracks, one of all girls, and one of all boys.  We are greeted by a game of Hide and Seek to start, and this sets the stage for what this beautiful play is really about.  It's not about the inhumane treatment of humanity by the nazis, we've seen those plays, they are in heavy abundance.  What this play is about, is how can a child grow up in that environment, how fast do they grow up, and are they forced into an adulthood before they are ever really children?  That story, is new, it is riveting, and it is utterly, utterly heartbreaking.  As we meet these boys and girls, we are given a glimpse of their previous lives, and of the new ones they've created for themselves, together.  The heads of this strange little family, are Miroslav Weiss (played stunningly by my dear friend Ethan Itzkow), and Eva Hellerova (a spell-binding Lilly Wilton).  They are 15, and 14 respectively, and while Eva is mainly concerned with the safety and well-being of her sister, Jana (the youngest character and member of the cast, Mia Sinclair Jenness), they both work to keep the other kids' minds free of troubling thoughts, and always in a world of the future, of make-believe, of something better.  I should mention, by the way, that Ms. Sinclair Jenness' character was six, she didn't look a day above it, and her focus, engagement with the text, and ability to deliver a very large amount of lines was phenomenal.  As the play progresses, Luc's direction masterfully staged these children into a variety of experiences the whole audience could relate to (the first awkward kiss between two young kids in love, a young girl forcing a boy to play house, creating skits with a sheet for a curtain.  All of these things had people smiling fondly as the children on stage played their way through this horrific life they were forced to live.