Endless Time & The Palindrome

1.
Numbers are the perfect language.  They are simple and pure.  They tell no lies, nor pretend to be more than they are.  They are, simply. Quantities.  Measurable.  Finite.  They strip all of physical existence to its barest essence: being.

2.
The ultimate question IsThereAnInfiniteNumber? boggles the mind because to be able to say "infinity" is to be able to say the unsayable.  Endless time.  The ultimate oxymoron, and the ultimate palindrome:

"endless time"

is the collision between the unsayable (and undefinable, so don't expect me to do so)

and

the absolutely sayable - for time and the sayable are absolute partners.  To be able to say what one is able to say is to find that moment on that brink of having nothing to say.  And that is a perfect moment.

To be able to say (and represent) those two things at the same time, is to be able to enter into the realm of perfection.

2a.
Oh, does that make sense?  The realm of endless time is the realm of the palindrome.  The realm of the palindrome is the realm of collision.  The realm of the palindrome is the realm of resolution.  To see yourself in the mirror is to enter the realm of absolute completion, because you are really only half yourself.

  
 3.
The realm of endless time & the palindrome is the ability to say the Double Negative, The Vanishing Point, which is also the Beginning Point.



This is why theatre is so absolutely amazing; because it is the point at which the live (that which is presented for the first time) meets the re-presented (that which is presented for the first, the second, and the umpteenth time).

Let me say that again: theatre is the place where the presented (live) meets the re-presented (that which is presented for the first, the second, and the umpteenth time).

We, the audience, are the presented, because when we come to any live event, it is the very first time that we, the audience, have presented ourselves into that situation.  We do it authentically, live, with no idea on how we should act or react.     //////////     Performers have re-hearsed so they could re-present an event to us.  An event from which we will, hopefully, learn, because by learning we realize what we should not do again.  That's the essence of tragedy, right?

When living people go to a play, their experience is, in essence, equal to endless time.  Or rather timeless end, because the audience is trapped in the realm of time, and the end is not.

So, ultimately, the realm of endless time & the palindrome - of theatre itself -  is the realm of where the living meet the eternal, which is where the time-bound meet the time-less, which 

When living people go to a tragedy, they are continually satisfied that they are not the ones who are dying as they meet their end.  (And their end is not in their untimely death, but it is rather in the moment of their conjoining with multiple representations of their most feared end.) 

For everyone meets their own death at the moment that they encounter their reproduction. Everyone suffers their own extinction at the moment when they discover that they are reproduceable, and replacable, in duplicate.

Endlesstime & the Palindrome: Tragedy and the Original

4.

As Aristotle says, a tragedy does not have to be focused on character, because characters--individuals who are based on authentic, raw, momentary reactions--are really few and far between.  Most of the people of the world get where they are because they are so good at representing what they think is the right thing to do.  In other words, most people are relatively empty vessels, waiting to be filled.  Easily influenced by the actions of those around them.  Some might say "stupid."  I would not say "stupid," but I would say these people are not "original."  "Original" people are those who are one of a kind, and, quite frankly, there are very few of those, because most people are classifiable and countable.


When you meet a true "original," you know it.  They are unclassifiable.  Just when you think you know them, they surprise you.  They exceed all of your expectations.  They defy your judgements.  They are not quantifiable or countable.  Poor things, they are heavenly things in earthly bodies; it is kind of like they are the bridge between us and the nether world.  They are prophets; they are angels; they are devils, too.  Them embody larger spirits, and it burdens them throughout their lives.


There are not many originals in this world, but it is quite amazing to witness one at a moment of encounter with a clumsy human experience.  They react honestly.  If they trip, they trip, and they don't lie about it.  If they fart, they fart, and sometimes even apologize.  If they laugh, their laugh is infectious; if they cry, the world cries with them.  This is why we often make them the performers of the world. 



There is, however, a multitude of the ordinary.  The ordinary seek out "originals" because they need role models for how to act authentically.  Without those role models all they have to go on are other imitators, like themselves. 

age-of-the-sage

Sooo, that was the premise behind the justification for Aristotle's tragedy: in tragedy, ethical, original characters must re-present a perfect plot (which is, of course a complete action).  It does not matter who the character is who represents that plot, the plot and its lesson will remain the same.  And the real point of tragedy - the lesson learned - is the end result of tragedy.  Aristotle demands that that lesson be an ethical one.  It is most ethical when it is performed by an original character, but one should never forget that it is the action that makes the character ethical.


Indeed, tragedy is fundamentally ethical. And it is ethical because it is very honestly positioned at the juncture of timeless death and the palindrome.  Tragedy attempts to teach us an ethical lesson at the time of our encounter with death, so we will continue to live our lives ethically.  This, too, justifies the claim that the essence of theatre is ritual, and the essence of ritual is theatre.

Because that is absolutely true.