Jonestown and Documentaries and Ferrets, Oh My

Everyone knows that I am a sucker for PBS documentaries. I seriously can't get enough of them. Sometimes I will spout a random fact about something and my friends will yawn and say, "PBS Documentary?"

Favorites have included the one about the building of the Panama Canal (which briefly inspired my yet to be written musical "Panama! Can You Dig It?") The one about sweatshops where the women made clothes for the store Forever 21 and then staged a strike and actually won. The Civil War, obviously, was a big one. Let's see, I love all the "House" shows PBS does like Pioneer House, Colonial House, 1940's House etc. Actually, 1940's House was a little depressing. I own 1900's House though and it's amazing because the mom starts going a little bananas near the end. Classic.

Most recently I watched a documentary about ferrett competitions. Something called "The Buckeye Bash" which takes place in Ohio (of course) and is an honest to God Ferret show. Like a dog show, but with fucking ferrets. And these people have not one, not two, but MANY MANY ferrets. And the ferrets all have names like "Obsidian Tears" and "Mr. Marshmallow Man" and "Luck Be a Ferret" and the owners all wear T-shirts that say things like "Got Ferrets?". To which I reply, "No, thank God! I do not got ferrets!" One woman had a bloody gash on her nose at the show and she said "Serves me right, I shoulda known better'n to get my face in too close to a ferret that wern't mine." Words to live by, oh sage ferret owner. One woman wrote a song about ferrets and performed it at the end of the documentary. Like they do in "Best in Show". I swear to God, this documentary was amazing.

However, the PBS documentary that stuck with me the longest was last years "Jonestown". You know why? Because I had never heard of Jonestown. Isn't that awful? I had never understood the expression "Don't drink the Kool-Aid" and I had never once heard anything about this. I guess it's not something you learn as a Junior in high school during American History. (Much like we sort of skipped through slavery and Indian land takeovers, "La la, then there were some slaves and then there was ABRAHAM LINCOLN boys and girls! Look how great and tall he is! So tall! So great! A wonderful American! La la, then there were some race riots in the 60's, but remember ABRAHAM LINCOLN?!) I was very angry at not having known this bit of history and I was very angry that it happened at all and I was very interested in the whole thing, the group psychology, the endless footage of people boarding the plane to the jungle, the songs and hymns and prayers that came out on recordings and then hearing about the congressman who was slain and then seeing the photos of the bodies...it was all very overwhelming. I wonder if anyone who was around in the seventies could shed some light for me on what this experience was like to live through as an outsider, a regular person watching footage from Jonestown on the news. I guess it might have been like Waco, although I was too young to really have been emotionally impacted by that at the time it was happening.

The reason I'm bringing this up is because last night I saw ATC's production of "A People's Temple" and it was really good. It was a somewhat sympathetic approach through the eyes of Stephen Jones, Jim Jone's son. Straightforward and clearly taken from actual interviews this piece cleverly used simple staging that was more reminiscent of seventies style theatre. The production included a live gospel choir and actual photographs and footage from Jonestown, although it never depended on the surplus of footage and photos, instead it very carefully meshed together the photos, interviews, video and song into one very solid piece of theatre. Sadly I can't remember his name, but the actor who played Stephen/Jim Jones was truly wonderful and his ability to convey Jone's over-the-top preaching style without being over-the-top himself effectively showed what a snake charmer this man really was. One of the reasons it was great was that my old friend Editha Rosario walked on stage much to my surprise, I haven't seen her in a million years, she was one of my first friends in Chicago, so that was a lovely surprise. But the way this show is put together is really wonderful. If you get a chance, please check it out...it really is exceptionally well done and engaging. You never once feel like you are being manipulated or forced into an opinion, you see it from all sides. Well done.

And, if you are ever bored turn on your PBS, you're bound to learn something.