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
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
Jason Turner is a Staff Writer for The Hawkeye
Jason Turner grew up and went to school in New Mexico. While in school, he worked at the radio station...
Bill Oberst Jr. • Apr 19, 2017 at 8:36 am
Thank you Hawkeye News, and Jason Turner, for this coverage, and thank you Hillsborough Community College for hosting the performance. Professor Suzy Devore, Keith Arsenault and the student body were all wonderful to me. Ybor City is a treasure. I loved being a small part of HCC’s 2017 arts line-up.
gratefully,
Bill
Bill Oberst Jr.
billoberst.com