Last Tuesday night PASA brought the Actors Gang's adaptation of George Orwell's 1984 to the Heymann Center. I'm sure any of your readers that attended the show can agree with me that the production was edgy, bold and solid. They tackled the subject matter with heart and courage, and it was a refreshing experience.
Too often in this town I find the touring theater brought to us is all song and dance. Musicals have their place in the entertainment world. Most of them are mindless entertainment which feeds an audience trained on television programing. There isn't much on prime time that requires thought. I prefer theater that has something to say. I want to be challenged to think by the experience of live theater, and the Actors Gang offered a full plate of that with 1984. Kudos to Jackie Lyle and the entire staff of PASA for having the courage to bring a show like that to Lafayette. There was a healthy turnout on Tuesday, and all of the conversation after the show led me to believe that there are a lot more people in this town like myself.
We are an intelligent, artistic and vibrant community. We deserve to be offered entertainment with substance. PASA gave us that on Tuesday night. Thank you. I needed that. I hope there will be more to come from the shows that PASA books in the future.