Louisiana State University’s HopKins Black Box theatre dares to go where no performance has gone before, so far as we know. Toilet technology, turd terrorism, ways to wipe, odorous encounters, euphemisms, “poo-etry,” and more: the HopKins Black Box presents Crap Happens, an ensemble production that attempts to digest the movement of excretion through our discursive systems.
This playful performance is the product of a collaborative effort between director Danielle Dick McGeough and her eight-person cast of LSU students. This show attempts to intellectualize a subject everyone “knows” but avoids discussing.
“We consider our bathroom habits an unremarkable part of an unremarkable day,” director McGeough, a PhD student in LSU’s Department of Communication Studies, explains. “And yet, the rules that guide how, when, and where one goes to the restroom can reveal a lot about contemporary society. Social class divisions, issues of shame and the body, and notions of filth and disgust can all be explored through our defactory practices.”
Both serious and silly, this production draws upon personal experiences, children’s stories, medical issues, Hollywood, toilet photography, and historical trends in the disposal of human waste to uncover some of the symbolic meanings of our bathroom habits.
This playful performance is the product of a collaborative effort between director Danielle Dick McGeough and her eight-person cast of LSU students. This show attempts to intellectualize a subject everyone “knows” but avoids discussing.
“We consider our bathroom habits an unremarkable part of an unremarkable day,” director McGeough, a PhD student in LSU’s Department of Communication Studies, explains. “And yet, the rules that guide how, when, and where one goes to the restroom can reveal a lot about contemporary society. Social class divisions, issues of shame and the body, and notions of filth and disgust can all be explored through our defactory practices.”
Both serious and silly, this production draws upon personal experiences, children’s stories, medical issues, Hollywood, toilet photography, and historical trends in the disposal of human waste to uncover some of the symbolic meanings of our bathroom habits.