Pillar Of Fire descends on Ybor

  Friday, March 3, Bill Oberst, Jr. brought his theatrical reading of Ray Bradbury’s short sto­ry, “Pillar Of Fire” to the Mainstage Theatre on the Ybor City Campus of HCC. Oberst is a veteran of both stage and screen, hav­ing played an Amish father in The Shunning; a boun­ty hunter in The Retriev­al; a killer on the popular television show Criminal Minds; Jesus in the tour­ing production of Jesus of Nazareth; and “The Face­book Stalker” in the Emmy Award Winning Facebook app, “Take This Lollipop.” He also won and Emmy Award.

  While film and tele­vision are great, Oberst loves doing live theater to express his “soulful side” and make a direct connec­tion with audiences.

  Oberst has been touring with his production of “Pil­lar Of Fire” for a couple of years now and has won awards for the show in Los Angeles.

  “Pillar of Fire” tells the story of William Lantry, who wakes up in the year 2349, after having been dead for 400 years. He wakes up to the world

JASON TURNER/STAFF
Bill Oberst, Jr. entertained the audience at the HCC Ybor Campus. He performed a theatrical reading of Ray Bradbury’s short story.

where all horror has been elim­inated and Lantry is the last corpse to still exist, the rest having been incinerat­ed. When he wakes up, he feels such hatred for what the world has become that he decides to kill others so they will be like him and basically becomes what people would consider a terrorist.

  He meets McClure, who figures out what he is and sets out to destroy him. In the end, Lantry allows himself to be killed while he exclaims that he is the last of Poe, Lovecraft, and all horror that ever existed.

  Some people will find Lantry the hero and Mc­Clure the villain, and some will find the opposite. Like many people who feel like they do not belong in their society, Lantry didn’t ask to be what he is and is in a world that says it does not like what he is.

  The story asks the read­er to think about the world with no fear and no mor­bidity and if that is truly the world worth living in.

  Oberst presents the work in what is known as “black box theater.” He is alone on the stage with only some dirt and his clothes and a book as props.

  He uses a backing track for some sound effects and for McClure’s voice, but the rest is just Oberst read­ing the story in a very the­atrical and emotional way.

  He starts by lying on the stage, facing away from the audience members while they come in and take their seats. Music plays and then Oberst starts moving and eventually stands up and begins talking.

  Shortly after his char­acter, Lantry comes out of the grave, Oberst jumps off the stage and into the au­dience while emoting the words.

  One can feel the passion Oberst has for the piece, and he says that “as a kid, it made me cry and I didn’t know why.”

  He later realized it was because he could see him­self in Lantry and in other characters by Bradbury.

  His next project will be to develop a one-man show where he plays Bradbury, who Oberst says is “one of the best American writers we have ever produced.”

  In the meantime, peo­ple can purchase a copy of Oberst dramatic reading on the Audible Book he re­leased.

  Check it out in the iTunes store:

  https://itunes.apple.com/it/audiobook/ray-bradburys-pillar-fire/id1164251607?l=en