'Parentheses of Blood' explores politics through satire

Stabbing someone with a sword is not supposed to provoke laughter, just as citizens are not supposed to resist their government.

However, in “Parentheses of Blood” by Sony Labou Tansi, directed by Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe, the mockery of corruption is bound to stir shrieking humor.

The production opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday with additional shows Saturday and the next week at the Wells-Metz Theatre to close the Theatre and Drama Department’s fall season.

Despite the obvious death of the freedom fighter Libertashio, in the play, the government mandates a law against the acknowledgement of his death and blindly sends soldiers to seek him out dead or alive.

The threat of Libertashio’s existence is enough to invoke limitless brutality in an authoritative regime. Anyone who strays from the hunt for Libertashio will not beat the game of survival.

But this is not your ordinary group of traveling soldiers.
 
“They are scary to ridiculous and almost Monty Python-esque,” said junior Kelly Lusk, who plays the roles of Sarkansa and the Parson.

Influenced from a youth under a language-robbed Congolese government, playwright Tansi conveyed messages of corruption not far-fetched from current government issues.

“Elements of this play are relevant to the nature of politics itself, such as power struggle, greed, top-down communication, hope, peace and goodwill,” said graduate student Henry McDaniel, who plays the role of Cavacha.

Although violence includes the mutilation of body parts, there are comical messages borrowed from the world today.

An 8-year-old girl sucks her thumb to represent brainwashed children soldiers, while a man walks on an angle with his feet ahead of him to show his pompous demeanor.

“The first time I saw this play was in French, and despite the language barrier and the setting across the seas in an African jungle, I still understood the physicality and political message,” Cooper-Anifowoshe said.

She added that she was most interested in the rise of double cross-culture.

This will be Cooper-Anifowoshe’s second time directing this play and submitted “Parentheses of Blood” to IU to carry on the diversity within black literature.
Tansi weighs different questions of satisfaction to contrast a material lifestyle. 

“The soldiers ask, ‘Will I eat, breathe or bleed?’ compared to ‘Will I go to class or to the mall?’” McDaniel said.

Another argument of the play beholds the existential argument of what is really living.  
The script repeats, “The time to die is over.”

Flexibility of whether a government will be overthrown or goodness will be instilled is an option for conclusion.

“The parentheses are open to evils and corruption, but it is our job to close them and put an end to it,” Lusk said.

‘Parentheses of Blood’
WHEN  7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday, Dec. 8 through 12; 2 p.m. Dec. 12
WHERE Wells-Metz Theatre
MORE INFO Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for people 30 and younger, students and seniors,  and $12 for a student rush ticket with a valid IUBloomington student ID.