On The Fly Mark Sutch Analysis

My good Hudson, I would be most excited to share my thoughts with you on the play. Though I enjoyed the play and hold it in high regard, it seems to me that the artistic ambition of the director may have led to incoherence with its purest essence. Director of the play, Mark Sutch, made a questionable decision in his application of aerial silks, used to construe flying motion. During the play, the actors and actresses would hang on to their aerial silks as they seemingly “flew” across the stage. When the songs came on, the characters showed off synchronized acrobatic moves. In terms of its Low Comedy characteristics, these flashy acrobatic stunts marked the lowest point of the play. Unlike the rest of the play which appealed to the audience through low comedy—vulgar, farcical, and absurd— the silk dance scene failed to stay relevant (“Low
Comedy”).
Characters that were being ridiculed for their farcical physical movements were, all of a sudden, seeking to impress their audience through it. As Dr. Cheshire mentioned, the Greek plays, in its truest essence, emphasized ridicule of the body ("On His Transmigration of Aristophanes' The Birds"). Old male characters would wear, as part of their costumes, extended flaccid phalluses to make fun of physical characteristics ("On His Transmigration of Aristophanes' The Birds"). Sutch manages to follow up on this (though not with fake genitals) until the aerial silks, which in contrast, attempt to appear graceful and showy. With all respect, the silk dance was, in plain terms, enjoyable. However, within the context of the play, it was neither perfectly executed to the point of being impressive nor was it comedic. It was a feeble and incoherent attempt to impress the audience in between
laughs. It did not add any comedic substance, and instead, became a distraction. The superficiality of these stunts, serving to impress the audience rather than serving to amplify its comedic element, was both confusing and overwhelming.