I’ll See It When I Believe It
What do you see? Beak or ears? Feathers or fur? Duck or rabbit? This image was used by psychologist Joseph Jastrow as a test of how we experience a thing: how much is related to the individual perspective and how much to objective reality, if such a thing exists? The provocation has had neuroscientists puzzling for decades.
The Tempest
Once you move beyond your first impression to realize that it can be viewed as either duck or rabbit rather than just one, does your actual, physical experience of the image change? Or does your brain’s processing of it change, molding it to fit with your rational knowledge and experience? How quickly you can see both and flip between them depends on creativity and adaptability. Which one you see first depends on any number of external factors—including time of year. More people see a duck in the fall and a rabbit around Easter. It’s the context that counts. When you’re thrust into an unfamiliar situation, a whole new world, what happens? Do you see man or monster? Civil or savage? King or colonizer? Father or master? Drunkard or god? Paradise or prison?
MARCH 7 AT 8PM MARCH 8 AT 4PM AND 8PM MARCH 9 AT 4PM
Is it one or the other or can they coexist? Does it ever change? When? How? Can a wrong ever be righted? Can a betrayal be forgiven? Look and see. —EMILY SORENSEN, PRODUCTION DRAMATURG
Iseman Theater, 1156 Chapel Street
2018–19 SEASON