The Farnsworth Invention (notes)
I saw the Aaron Sorkin play The Farnsworth Invention with Hank Azaria and Jimmi Simpson at the Music Box Theatre on December 25th, 2007 (evening). Although, I was given to understand that the overall reviews for the play had been mixed, I hadn't had the chance to read the New York Times review on the production prior to traveling, so I'm not certain how the NYT critics saw the show.
For the evening performance, the main orchestra was filled to capacity, and my seats were to the side (F7-11). The play is written by Aaron Sorkin who is better known for his television work - years of The West Wing, a season of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and his previously staged A Few Good Men.
Regardless of how much of the actual 'story' was 'real' as in grounded in verifiable facts and truth, it was an interesting form Des McAnuff has chosen to use to tell this tale about the invention of television. The Farnsworth Invention is more than just the tale of who invented television, it is really charting the evolution of telecommunications in the twentieth century - both radio and television alike.
I was reminded of Marshall McLuhan's famous quip about 'the medium is the message' and wondered whether this stage production could be converted into a permanent visual record, i.e., a telefilm. Yet the concept of simultaneous descriptions (both Farnsworth and Arnoff describing the same event/speaking the same words) is so much more effective upon the stage than on a screen. As a stage play, its medium framework is not transferable; this play about television couldn't work as effectively on television.
There's no deliberate emphasis on what's 'true' and what's 'imagined' - whether David Arnoff's narration has been embellished or whether it's true to what's known. The audience is given free range to determine how much of this recounting is a case of the 'victor' writing history (in this case, the victor being RCA and David Sarnoff) or whether it's something altogether different; perhaps, the victor being Philo T. Farnsworth, for his 'side' of the story is now finally being told.
For the evening performance, the main orchestra was filled to capacity, and my seats were to the side (F7-11). The play is written by Aaron Sorkin who is better known for his television work - years of The West Wing, a season of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and his previously staged A Few Good Men.
Regardless of how much of the actual 'story' was 'real' as in grounded in verifiable facts and truth, it was an interesting form Des McAnuff has chosen to use to tell this tale about the invention of television. The Farnsworth Invention is more than just the tale of who invented television, it is really charting the evolution of telecommunications in the twentieth century - both radio and television alike.
I was reminded of Marshall McLuhan's famous quip about 'the medium is the message' and wondered whether this stage production could be converted into a permanent visual record, i.e., a telefilm. Yet the concept of simultaneous descriptions (both Farnsworth and Arnoff describing the same event/speaking the same words) is so much more effective upon the stage than on a screen. As a stage play, its medium framework is not transferable; this play about television couldn't work as effectively on television.
There's no deliberate emphasis on what's 'true' and what's 'imagined' - whether David Arnoff's narration has been embellished or whether it's true to what's known. The audience is given free range to determine how much of this recounting is a case of the 'victor' writing history (in this case, the victor being RCA and David Sarnoff) or whether it's something altogether different; perhaps, the victor being Philo T. Farnsworth, for his 'side' of the story is now finally being told.