Man and Superman

Man and Superman
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I have recently discovered a source of immense pleasure: National Theater Live. Every few weeks, we get to see a world class play, live streamed from London's National Theater, right here, at the Menlo Park Guild. On June 7, we got to see Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman with Ralph Fiennes as Jack Tanner. It was a mesmerizing 4-hour production, bursting with Fiennes' immense dramatic energy.

The play has a fantastic third act that is a dream sequence when Jack Tanner dreams of himself as Don Juan, trying to decide between staying on in hell, versus taking the elevator up to heaven. Many memorable lines get delivered, with the devil making the case that hell is a far more fun and interesting place than heaven, the latter being a boring ideal. Don Juan and the devil banter back and forth, until the former speaks the decisive line: "The philosopher is Nature's pilot. And there you have our difference: to be in hell is to drift: to be in heaven is to steer."

Man and Superman is the kind of theater that makes you think.

It made me think of the world that we live in: Silicon Valley, the technology industry, startups, venture capital, unicorns, delusions, dishonesty, innovation, selfishness, misleading, greatness - the entire gamut.

And that line summarized for me the difference between heaven and hell.

It is the philosopher's mind, leading with intent, versus the mind of an average wealth seeker, who, upon finding wealth, continues to drift without purpose.

You and I have met both kinds: the philosopher and the drifter.

Man and Superman.

Which one do you choose to be?

Photo credit: Johan Perrson.

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