thePali Canon. The second came along right as I was studying those texts; a friend invited me to a screening of a filmed theater production of The Gospel of Mark as spoken by Alec McGowen. Soon thereafter, I was reading a particularly dramatic sutra aloud to a friend when I had a kind of eureka moment and I thought, what if I did a one-man show depicting the life of the Buddha exclusively from the ancient texts? I think that moment, reading the sutra out loud to a friend, was the moment of conception. When you took on the enormous task of writing a script from the original texts and also decided to perform it; what has been the biggest challenge? The biggest challenge has been realizing the character of this great man—to
BUDDHA:
TRIUMPH & TRAGEDY IN THE LIFE OF THE GREAT SAGE by tony reverditto
Historically speaking, we know very little for certain about the life of Siddhartha
Gautama, the man who came to be known as “the Buddha.” Although no one today seriously questions his actual existence in ancient India, debates still rage over the dates of his life, with the year of his death now being set anywhere between 486 and 360 B.C. To be sure, we can place what we do know about Buddha and early Buddhism into reconstructions of the social, political, economic and cultural contexts of ancient India. When Buddha walked away from an opulent, sheltered lifestyle, he experiment-
ed with the practices of begging, wandering, celibacy, techniques of self-restraint (yoga) and the like. He then organized a community of followers open to different ways of expressing their religious exploration and many were ready to endeavor into this new discipline. His followers were inspired by his innovation and char- ismatic personality. After his death, an extensive oral history of the movement was written down and carried on throughout Asia; becoming the foundation for Buddhist traditions. The evolution of Buddha’s thoughts, triumphs and tragedy until the end of
his life are interpreted by writer/performer Evan Brenner. He brings significant selections from those texts to the stage, unchanged, to enact the extraordinary life of the epic man. Brenner majored in drama and religion at Vassar College and received a masters degree in dramatic writing at Loyola Marymount University. His writing and directing credits include both film and television. Evan has prac- ticed meditation and studied Buddhism for more than 20 years and since 2003 has pursued canonical sutra studies in the Theravada tradition.
Who introduced you to Buddhism? 30 years ago, when I was in high school, Buddhism was “in the air”—floating
around popular culture in New York City. I found a Zen center on the Upper East Side of New York City and went with my girlfriend, my father and my brother and we sat for the first of three 30-minute periods then left because we had enough! What inspired you to actually create a production based on the legacy of Buddha? It was a combination of two things. First, after studying all kinds of different Buddhist traditions, I felt uncertain and ungrounded in any particular tradition. So I set out to read and understand the oldest Buddhist texts which are contained in
20 RAGE monthly | FEBRUARY 2012
successfully imagine what it might have been like to hear him tell his own life story in 90 minutes. Where does the biggest difference between Buddhism and Christianity lie? Both of those traditions are immense, complex and extremely internally varied
(eg. Catholicism vs. Protestantism, etc.) However, from my perspective, one key distinction is that a great deal more is known about the historical Buddha than about Jesus. I think that fact may have led to all kinds of differences—notably the Buddha’s unequivocal denial of himself as anything more than a man. Also, for good or for bad, Buddhism is much more systematic than Christianity. I think the volume and clarity of the Buddhist scriptures give us more of a definite sense of the Buddha’s intentions, as opposed to the legacy of Jesus where we simply have less to go on. No value judgments here—I love Jesus as much as the next guy. Why do think now is a good time for this story to be told? I like to think that the philosophy of Buddhism is contained in the story, so I think
it’s a good time for the story to be told because it’s a good time for the philosophy to be made available. Buddhism, on the whole seems to have a wonderful effect on the countries and cultures to which it is introduced.
“I think the volume and clarity of the Buddhist scriptures give us more of a
definite sense of the Buddha’s
intentions, as opposed to the legacy of Jesus where we simply have less to go on.
No value judgments here—I love Jesus as much as the next guy.”
How has immersing yourself in the life of one of the most enlightened mystics of all time evolved your thinking and spirituality? The process of memorizing the text has been very rewarding—I feel as though
the wisdom of the sutras has seeped into my bones a bit. I see now how the oral tradition served a purpose of educating, on a very deep level, adherents willing to put in the work to memorize the teachings. Also, the Buddha’s life was one of great challenges and great success—it’s been a model for me in my own life!
The show runs Friday, February 3 through Saturday, February 25 at the Bootleg Theatre, 2220 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles. For tickets and more information call 800.838.3006 or go to
thebuddhaplay.com.
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