Five Easy Pieces (Milo Rau) about how we deal with the emotional shock and pain caused by an extremely upsetting experience. Milo Rau's "Five Easy Pieces" is also a reflection on theatre. The title "Five Easy Pieces" refers to a series of exercises that Igor Stravinsky composed in 1917 in order to teach children how to play the piano, and that were also called "Five Easy Pieces". The theatre production of Milo Rau is made up of five monologues, each offering a different perspective on how children learn to act and how they learn to grow up. Milo Rau sees his performances as "Lehrstücke", in
Jack Nicholson MGM, and other issues. Nicholson starred in "Five Easy Pieces" alongside Karen Black in 1970 in what became his persona-defining role. Nicholson and Black were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances. Nicholson played Bobby Dupea, an oil rig worker, and Black was his waitress girlfriend. During an interview about the film, Black noted that Nicholson's character in the film was very subdued, and was very different than Nicholson's real-life personality. She says that the now-famous restaurant scene was partly improvised by Nicholson, and was out of character for Bobby, who wouldn't have cared enough to argue with a waitress.