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For the most part, MacsThe Hangis the peacocky jot down.
Whichever it is, it imagines the final moments of Socrates, sentenced to death in 399 B.C.E.
for blasphemy and corrupting the youth.
and is utterly baffling.)
And ceremonies often deliberately discombobulate initiates, especially the ones who dont know theyre being inducted.
Hear ye, hear ye!
The beauty, will it queer ye?
the ensemble sings, beckoning to the front row, hoping theyll get up and join in.
If you know anything about Socrates, you know it because his best student wrote it down.
While the others do odd ceremonies, like anti-hierarchically burn their fake beards (Okay, Boomer!
they sing, Okay, White Man and ancient Greek!
But the facts wont getstraight in this queerest of all possible tellings, and hes left bewildered.
What do songs and jokes and seductionsmean?Nothing?
The only message this Mystery delivers is that, as Socrates sings, only the unknown knows.
Forget about the lyrics and whether or not youre a victim, says the show.
Open yourself to confusion, and you ready yourself for the unshapeable and unspeakable wonder behind the world.
Its a swinging 70s basement crossed with a cave temple, a macrameMithraeum.
Their hard-won balance also keeps the ensembles lyrics comprehensible, at least as far as Macs complications will allow.
In fact, whereThe Hangdoes not find its answers in mere sense, it finds them in sound.
What do you mean by good?
And this time, at least, there are straightforward answers.
The Hangis at HERE Arts Center through February 20.
