A: Is for Art that is a stage!

Friday night I went to see the Philip Glass opera "Satyagraha" at the Met. This productions scenic backdrop and staging for me was enthralling. Huge puppets loomed ominously, some more than 20 feet tall. Reminiscent of Julie Tamor mating with Pilobolus, grotesque, images depicting the politicians and those in power lunged, their heads bobbing like doddering old men. The figures of German Expressionist artists Otto Dix and George Grosz were reincarnated. "Satyagraha," is about Gandhi's years in South Africa and this production utilizes simple materials to create it's world. Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch, , are the director and the designer of the opera. In act 1 puppets created from newspaper along with wicker baskets and brooms become a crocodile, and a knight engaged into battle. Chairs held over faces become symbolic barriers. Coated newspapers paper become screens for which words come to life. Balled up pages become an arsenal of stones. News pages are once again manipulated into a Hindu goddess as long strips of attached pages represent a printing press. It's an ordinary object that, when transformed, becomes magical. Ordinary simple actions, when done with commitment, become powerful and thus Gandhi's idea of "satyagraha," a Sanskrit term that can be translated as "truth-force" stands for nonviolent resistance. Aerialists and puppeteers bring this work to life in a way that is thrilling. This production is like a Christmas present and keeps you waiting to see what will be unveiled. Never once was I disappointed or not awed. The dominant set is a huge curved backdrop of corrugated iron, that periodically breaks apart with doors and windows that form multiple mini-stages within the principal space. Just when you think what else can they do giant birds and amphibious monsters appear. Characters are suddenly pulled up like marionettes; household materials like clothes hangers and rolls of scotch tape are used in magical, unexpected ways. This production is an illustration that art does not just live on walls, or is found in galleries or museums but can be transformed anywhere and that is a F.A.C.T.