I'm giving this a pretty high score even though it's not the easiest to sit through. I just have too much respect for how it came across to me.
Passion deserves to be talked about outside the niche within a niche of Sondheim fans. People who have seen this musical are likely to be repulsed, mainly because of the behavior of Fosca. Audiences shouted mean comments at the stage during preview performances! Why? Let's analyze the story.
Giorgio, a green young man sent off to war, meets Fosca while stationed in a remote town. Fosca appears to suffer from mental illness, chronic physical illness, and eating disorders. Giorgio is the only person in the whole story who tries to know Fosca on her own terms and listen to her; no one finds her physically attractive. You can guess that she falls in love with Giorgio, but he is already involved with Clara, a married woman. Fosca is upfront, desperate and nosy about Giorgio and Clara. Giorgio is quick to call her out on it, insisting that her appearance is no excuse for her behavior. The trouble is, Fosca doesn't have anyone, and did I mention the self-esteem issues? We learn in a flashback that she was deceived by a suitor and brought up by her parents to believe that a woman's only value is in her beauty. Given what her life is like, I'd humor her a little more if I were Giorgio.
Here's the thing: Giorgio denounces Fosca's infatuation as shallow and unreasonable, but his relationship with Clara is just that. We don't learn why he started seeing Clara. When we see Giorgio and Clara together, they do little other than make out, but in the bulk of his scenes with Fosca, he's talking and thinking with her. Fosca is more of an intellectual, being a reader and pianist, while Clara gives Giorgio permission to ignore her without having met her; unaware that no one sympathizes with Fosca a) because of her appearance, and b) from a lack of understanding of her medical condition!
As you can tell, this is a thinker's piece. Passion is difficult to swallow, but it raises important questions. For one, where do we draw the line between pardoning antisocial behavior due to past suffering and total accountability? Is Fosca so defeated by society that there's no way she can't passive-aggressively harass the objects of her desire? (I say yes.) One could argue about this play endlessly, and to me, that is when you know a piece of writing or art has done its job.
Passion deserves to be talked about outside the niche within a niche of Sondheim fans. People who have seen this musical are likely to be repulsed, mainly because of the behavior of Fosca. Audiences shouted mean comments at the stage during preview performances! Why? Let's analyze the story.
Giorgio, a green young man sent off to war, meets Fosca while stationed in a remote town. Fosca appears to suffer from mental illness, chronic physical illness, and eating disorders. Giorgio is the only person in the whole story who tries to know Fosca on her own terms and listen to her; no one finds her physically attractive. You can guess that she falls in love with Giorgio, but he is already involved with Clara, a married woman. Fosca is upfront, desperate and nosy about Giorgio and Clara. Giorgio is quick to call her out on it, insisting that her appearance is no excuse for her behavior. The trouble is, Fosca doesn't have anyone, and did I mention the self-esteem issues? We learn in a flashback that she was deceived by a suitor and brought up by her parents to believe that a woman's only value is in her beauty. Given what her life is like, I'd humor her a little more if I were Giorgio.
Here's the thing: Giorgio denounces Fosca's infatuation as shallow and unreasonable, but his relationship with Clara is just that. We don't learn why he started seeing Clara. When we see Giorgio and Clara together, they do little other than make out, but in the bulk of his scenes with Fosca, he's talking and thinking with her. Fosca is more of an intellectual, being a reader and pianist, while Clara gives Giorgio permission to ignore her without having met her; unaware that no one sympathizes with Fosca a) because of her appearance, and b) from a lack of understanding of her medical condition!
As you can tell, this is a thinker's piece. Passion is difficult to swallow, but it raises important questions. For one, where do we draw the line between pardoning antisocial behavior due to past suffering and total accountability? Is Fosca so defeated by society that there's no way she can't passive-aggressively harass the objects of her desire? (I say yes.) One could argue about this play endlessly, and to me, that is when you know a piece of writing or art has done its job.