Director’s Note from “Fahrenheit 451”:
There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches. – Ray Bradbury
Libraries seem to have more computers than books nowadays.
“Reality” television is more popular than ever, pulling people away from their own lives.
The dictionary defines kindle as “to start a fire”; how ironic is it that technology has defined it as a book replacement?
Over 50 years old now, this story resonates with as much passion and timelessness as it did when it was first written. Are we that close to firemen starting fires rather than putting them out? Probably not. Are we, however, closer and closer to technology replacing the need to think or the need to interact with other people? It scares me that we just might be …
I’ve made conscious decisions to include very recognizable and current technology in our performances of this play. I want you, the audience, to feel that this dispassionate and remote future may not be as far off as we’d like to think; that the ever-marching progress of technology can distance ourselves from each other if we’re not careful.
We text, we email, we tweet, we Facebook, we surf the net, we hang 52-inch television sets on our walls … but do we engage? Do we look at things and wonder why? In the play, Faber pleads with Montag, saying “Look … look at those words and the binding, and the paper, and the very ink, yes, the ink itself. Have you ever noticed how fine all of it smells?”
Yes, by all means, walk into an old bookstore and actually smell a book. Forget about what people might think …smell that there is life there, passion there to leave a mark upon the world long after the author is gone. Smell the wish that the book has to engage you, keep you turning the pages, keep you thinking and questioning long after you’re done.
To quote Clarisse, I ask you one last question before my hope that you enjoy the show … are you happy? Are you happy with an increasingly distant society that runs the risk of losing its identity amidst the shiny pictures?
God, I hope not …
Joseph Horst
