Turn back, oh man

Is that a reference from Godspell?

Yes. Yes it is.

But Jon doesn't even know musicals.

True, but he knows that one. It was the first show he stage-managed in high school.

Okay, fine, but why is it on the blog?

Well, for starters, it's cool because it is one of only a handful of "collective creations" that have made it to the Great White Way. More importantly, as I cast my net wide in thinking about potential structures to inspire Why More Weimar (come on people: a new working title, please!), Godspell's metalayers might be useful fodder for constructing a world of performativity wherein the performance actually changes the lives/relationships of the performers. The musical's greatest flaw, as far as I'm concerned, is that it's confusing and can read as half-baked from both the actors and the audience's point of view insofar as there are few clues in the "book" as to what the stakes of its role-playing are: are these people channeling their biblical antecedents, are they the "real deal," or are they just play-acting? I think this blurriness, however, will actually work nicely for the many layered implications of whatever sort of "age drag" we try to pull off...