Is this good or bad? Is that wrong or right? It is exactly these types of questions that result in turmoil and suffering throughout the world because there will always be suffering where there is confusion. Taking two opposing philosophies, Buddhism and Communism, Playwright Peter Mellencamp explores the ways in which these two views clash during the 1950s in Tibet in his premiere of “Struggling Truths.”
Sang Sang (Thomas Hoagland) is a Buddhist monk who brings the audience into the devastating reality of the Chinese invasion of Tibet. Highly contemporary, Sang Sang makes these issues an important part of our everyday lives. By involving himself in the story of Dorje (David Wolber) and Rinchen (Tara Platt), two siblings who start out as two Tibetan peasants, but soon adopt radically different lifestyles, he brings to light the importance of finding one”s own “truth.” He also helps the audience realize that one must dismiss the concept of certainty in order to achieve enlightenment the state where all desire and suffering is transcended.
The way in which this long and bitter struggle in Tibet is portrayed is refreshingly unique and any audience member can relate to the universal themes that it deals with. Sang Sang is both extremely funny and wise. He speaks to Dorje, who begins training at the monastery, about meditation and the importance of accepting human suffering, yet jokingly comments that his mother could have been reincarnated as the fly that is currently buzzing around.
“Struggling Truths” is both solid and the dialogue really hits home, because the issues it addresses can be understood by everyone. It makes one really think about the “here and now.” The valuable lessons it emphasizes are incorporated so well into the script that at no point does it appear fabricated or out of context. But as Sang Sang says, we are all on a big circle, some on one side and some on the other. Where does one side end and the next begin? It all depends on where you”re sitting.
The staging is both creative and smooth, and some actors play multiple characters, which adds a nice element of irony to the play”s theme. Buddhism and Communism, although extremely different and the cause of much struggle during the 1950s, at moments seem to fit together well in the play. Confused yet? Perhaps this seemingly impossible dichotomy is necessary. The Chinese symbol of the Ying Yang represents the view that each side holds a seed of the other, explaining the black and white dots present on each respective side.
Will we ever all get along? Maybe we will or maybe we won”t. Buddhists strive to fully embrace human suffering and also find it necessary in order to gain understanding, where others strive to prevent suffering and whatever cost. However, choosing to “not do something” can be just as powerful as “doing something.” Action or inaction, true or untrue, we all face decisions each and every minute of everyday, and these decisions create our own reality of who we really are. Who we “really” are. How can one “really” ever know? According to Buddhist philosophy, everything we do connects us to everyone else one way or another and this vital connection will forever shape us. “Struggling Truths” couldn”t have shown this any better.