For two days I’ve had an idea for a performance that I can’t get out of my mind. Tonight I worked on it for a few hours and decided it’s probably a play, though one where music plays a central role. So maybe it’s more like an opera? Not sure if there will be singing.
There’s a lot of dialog and only a few characters. The four sets are a dining room table, a psychotherapist office, a cafe, and a business office. These sets are built on a turntable that rotates around the musicians, who are in the center of the action. The primary set can appear to the left or right of the stage centerline, creating two perspectives for each set. I don’t know if it will be effective or not to have filler scenes happening on the three background sets. It might be too distracting.
Downstage left is a male performer practicing the internal arts of Tai Chi, yoga and meditation. Downstage right is a female performer who comes out of the shower and ‘gets ready to go out’ by shaving, trimming nails, combing hair, putting on makeup, etc. Each of these two performs continuously throughout the play, somewhat independent of the action.
The play is about our Work, and how we represent this to ourselves and to each other. Music acts as a central organizing principle; a soundtrack to our lives.
February 9, 2003