Gruesome Playground Injuries: Impotence, Eye Blown Out, And The Delineation of Deviance

Abstract

This project consists of a practical component, direction of the 2019 production of Gruesome Playground Injuries, and the supporting documentation. The supporting research interrogates the enduring semiotic link between ocular injury and castration in the context of Gruesome Playground Injuries. This essay advocates for a Foucauldian understanding of this semiotic link, as compared to the far more ubiquitous Freudian reading. This framework is also applied to relevant texts from Oedipus Tyrannus, Endgame, Beautiful Child, and the Old Testament. Reflections on the rehearsal and production process address newfound insights in actor safety in preparation of highly emotionally charged materials.