excerpts from a working diary

THE PERVERSION OF EVERYDAY LIFE

«pervert [transitive verb] (from latin pervertere): twist the meaning or sense of something; Distort or corrupt the original course, meaning, or state of (something). Lead (someone) away from what is considered natural or acceptable.»
Oxford English Dictionary

«The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act.»
Marcel Duchamp

«Less is more.»
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

 

PROPOSAL

We presume that, perhaps, the viewer who comes to the room moved by who knows what stimuli, has decided to see a play and fed certain expectations. Perhaps secretly hoped that those expectations to be dashed.

You may expect to see some alternative. Or feel an unhealthy curiosity about what has made that foreign director. Or intended to test the superiority of their IQ. Or you want to have fun without being fun. Or you have accompanied someone has told you that. Probably he is waiting to tell you something. And, of course, you have no doubt that there is a message in the work. That the work speaks of something concrete and that these guys are going to make that very clear.

In any case, the thing can not be helped. Soon the lights will go out and start the play. And our audience, whatever it is his willingness, no other option will be to put in our hands. At least for a while.

If we wrote a few lines, some kind of explanatory paragraph in the playbill, some frame of reference, maybe I could reorganize their expectations and know what to expect, so that the representation was not caught unawares. But most likely not have time or desire to read before or rely on his experience as a spectator.

If the work is one of those alternatives works that have neither head nor tail, tight, deliberately odd, one of those that ordinary people do not understand, always be two options. He dispatched a rapid and shallow derogatory or will make clear to everyone criticism, but of course belongs to that group of ordinary people, is slightly fitted, slightly above average, to understand any thing.

Nothing would prevent, however, that feeling so upset to have wasted time and wasted money, what the hell I now explain to my friends, who sends me my chance on an unknown company. There are so many attractive offer on the undercard of the city.

Surreptitiously, look at the other spectators around them. We would comfort detect any doubts or fears. Try to control your nervousness.

But it is too late, because the representation has begun.

It’s time to rush into the void, silence or noise, dark or bright light in the Spiral situations, dialogues, characters who are about to be perpetrated with impunity.

In the stripping of some conventions.

 

DRAMATURGY

FDT is a show made from a series of short scenes, fragments or sequences that call, apparently unrelated, that are going to form a “fresh” situations that cause unknowns to the attentive viewer. Should not only lead to these questions, but also the interest and the need to resolve them as active spectator.

Treatment of these scenes and characters from very basic situations of everyday life leads to a kind of absurd fun and full of ironic content and a critical and provocative condition of contemporary man sense.

Start from bland situations moments of everyday life perverted, ie, lighting in a new way. Theatrical conventions, properly handled, help us to turn around such situations.

Each fragment is a small catastrophe.

Fragmentation is a poetics of estrangement.

Five anonymous people, three women and two men, caught up in an orthodox theatrical space, are driven to interpret an irreversible logic and must act accordingly, which will lead to a search for identity suicide. Dive into the meaning of the words they say, interpret different roles, try to understand what happens to them, to find an explanation justifying its presence in the “here and now”.

From some concepts of Minimal Art, serialism and constructivism developed in other disciplines such as painting or sculpture, literature or music, the theoretical basis of this work are made, but only as a starting point. The intention is to develop this base with the maximum sense of play and work with the actors, conduct an investigation of how far you can get with these approaches.

Treatment of this material is illuminated with a wry look that purports to be, in some pure comedy moments and in others it may reach a ridiculous pathos, a ruthless mockery and delirious.

It is on the border of the theater text and gesture theater and exploring that territory.

Travel and large movements of the actors are treated with rhythmic dance precepts.

The often sad and failed attempts at communication between people, gestures and words that hide and drown the true feelings, emotions buying and selling disposable, empty and obsolete rituals, ceremonies that pollute pretentious meetings social group or intimates of the couple, are the main issues.

The characters are anonymous. They are just outlined. No name, making it necessary to call them A, B, C, X and Y are observed with the eye of an entomologist, making them a kind of automatons, puppets with which it is not easy to empathize, creating an eerie detachment. Triviality walk across the stage like a fashion pass in question.

The combining of these characters respond to the whims of mathematics in its version random chance.

The text is a starting point, defined as score which becomes an invocation to the staging, representing a third of this.

Priority is given, therefore, the actor’s work in “pure” situations dramatically driven exploration director guidelines.

As a starting point some rendered Theoretical concepts of Minimal art are taken:

• Pure forms, in a controlled and maximum simplicity and freshness expression and gesture.
• Simplicity, abstraction, achieved wealth of meanings to the practice of reductionism to the essential, basic elements required.
• Use of primary geometric forms, the concept of mass production and work from minimally manipulated materials.
• Find formal reduction of the object through the stripping of all decorative ornamental nudity to find the essentials, stripped of excess elements.
• Investigation of the potential of the surrounding space highlighting the movement, the specific effect of light on the volumes and the expansion of these.
• The use and exploration of silence as a powerful dramatic element.
• opaque character as negation of any literal and illusionistic effect in relation to the search for the true nature of theater time, order, sobriety.
• To provoke emotion through the use of the minimum.
• Influence of rationalism.
• Importance contrast, variations and repetition, as well as harmony causing a mesmerizing effect.
• Economy in the text, it provides only an outline of its structure, trying to describe situations emphasizing the surface and finding a meaning full context. Intended recipients of an active role in the creation of the show.
• fragmentary Poetics as a spacer element.
• Metafiction and metatheatre.
• monochromatic aesthetics.

 

ROLES & CHARACTERS

A, B, C, X and Y are basic roles, archetypes, more or less standardized behaviors that assume a specific character when interpreting each of the scenes. In this way they can become different characters while preserving the characteristics of its initial role. They will move along the piece as “a chance to be” acquired entity and the moment you start a scene, to lose it again at the end of this.

A, B and C are female roles.
X and Y are male roles.

A Lost. Empty. You are looking for a sense. I did not know what he wants.
B Women subjected to a relationship. Dependent.
C The solitary. Anxious and desperate. Always looking for something ideal. Subject to the topics.
X Man in a relationship. Domineering. Manipulator.
And individualistic. Sensitive and weak. Manic depressive.

SCENES OR EXCERPTS

The following scenes are not ordered. It is listed as a sample of the contents of the piece. An engine scene is a scene in various sequences, developed along the work with a special umbrella function. It carries the elements needed to understand the connections between all other scenes.

1. CONFUSION I, II, III, IV, V
Driving Scene
A
A woman comes on stage carrying a large bag full of more or less everyday objects. One by one, going out of the bag and makes an effort to identify and find your name. At first, though with some difficulty, get it. But then, gradually, the task will be harder and harder. Start mistake to change the names of objects up to a point where it is completely unable to make any connection. This behavior significantly changes taking it to lose its identity. This will happen over several brief appearances throughout the work. Their behavior and mood will be related to other scenes with other characters involved.
TEXT.
MOVEMENT.

2. THE STAGE I, II
X and B
A couple is sitting face to face at a long table. They have a fight. They are very shocked. The dialogue does not help us much to know specifically what they are discussing. We have the slight feeling that it must be something very important, but what they say sounds pretty stupid and content. They scream, cry, plead, threaten, insult, accuse things to each other, but we know what happens concretely
TEXT.
MOVEMENT.

3. INTERRUPTION I, II
X, B and C (I)
X, B and A (II)
In IC it comes at a time of the fight and stopped to watch and listen carefully, very concentrated, as if studying something, so the couple is saying. Suddenly interrupted the dialogue, they seem to relax, and start giving them obey the instructions exactly. The former have some sense, perhaps they suggest some kind of counseling. Following are becoming more arbitrary and absurd. The couple, however, continue to obey submissively.
In II, to come and see the result of the previous process. As driven by a strange force, perhaps desperate to find an identity, begins to replace first B, then X, stealing his personality and undertaking dialogue trying to take not only the words but the behavior, actions and movements He has seen before. This ruins and destroys everything.
TEXT.
MOVEMENT.
CHOREOGRAPHY.

4. HERE IS I, II, III, IV, V
Driving Scene
B and C
Two women come to the scene and found a chair. Stunned, they start talking in unclear terms. But little by little, we realize that they have been looking for something, I just found and now do not quite know what to do with this. It seems to speak from the chair, but some things you say make us consider other possibilities.
TEXT.
MOVEMENT.

5. MEMORIES I, II, III
X, Y, A, B and C
Three couples (X, B) (Y, C) and A (one with an empty chair) are standing, facing each other, digging with large blades. They talk about their memories to try to share another. But none of them has the same version of any of the memories, for a total disagreement. Dialogue is the same for all three couples, but playing as a canon in which each gives a different interpretation.
TEXT.
MOVEMENT.

6. SUICIDE I, II, III, IV
Driving Scene
C
A woman tries to kill herself several times using different strategies.
SILENT SCENE
MOVEMENT.

7. MONOLOGO
A and Y

A woman is trying to get someone to listen. Start talking alone, but through the confusion of the monologue discovered that actually has nothing to say. At one point the monologue, and that is fishing with a rod and has not paid any attention to what is said is only evidence also elsewhere.
TEXT.

8. SUBMISSION
B, C and X
Two completely different women talk in parallel monologues without communicating with each other to a man who is completely bound and gagged on the floor. One of them acts as a sadistic and the other as a watered romantic.
TEXT
MOVEMENT.

9. HERE NEXT
X and C
X takes the stage and sits towards one side. Start looking at something that is supposedly funny happening out of sight of the viewer. After a moment arrives C, she sits beside her and starts to watch the same scene. But, for his comments they seem to be looking at two entirely different things. To engage in a violent argument that will end with the death of one of them.
TEXT.

10. OPERA I, II, III, IV, V
Driving Scene
A, B, C, X and Y
At different times of the work, all the characters in brief appearances alone, quietly making strange movements. At the last apparition, they pooled together these movements and sounds a quintet of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. So we realize that they are playing and developing the scene before us.
SILENT SCENE
MOVEMENT.
CHOREOGRAPHY.

11. TEA PARTY
A, B, C, X and Y
Five ladies of high society are having tea. Show exquisite manners and refined behavior, but their conversation is most obseceno and scatological talk about his alleged sexual exploits with an ugly and offensive language becomes more and stronger without them ever lose his composure.
TEXT.
MOVEMENT.
CHOREOGRAPHY.

12. STATEMENT
X
A man declares his love to a woman sitting in a chair opposite him. With the most sensitive languages, tender and emotional, tells her how special she is for him and how much he loves her. At a time of the speech, she gets up and leaves and enters and occupies a different place without altering the least what you are saying X. This game will be repeated with various characters.
TEXT

13. SECRETS
Y, C and X
A couple sitting quietly next to each other. They do not know to say. A man arrives with a notebook and sitting with them, but in the background. Open notebook and begins to target them what to say. Start talking about clichés, but be terrible confidences pass.
TEXT

14. FAMILY PORTRAIT
A, B, C, X and Y
Through various images such as photographs ecstatic we know the dirtiest secrets and the most rugged relationships within the group.
SILENT SCENE
MOVEMENT
CHOREOGRAPHY

15. THE ABSENT
A, B, C, X and Y
In a cemetery, a group is standing beside the body. They begin to blame little things, absurd and insignificant customs that the deceased used to do when he was alive. They are full of rancor reproaches, said with a muffled violence, full of contradictions.
TEXT

16. AUTOPSY
A, B, X and Y
Two couples are doing the autopsy of a dead woman. As if they were talking about physical bodies, with the necessary tools for these cases, technically analyzed their feelings, frustrations, emotions, desires of the dead woman.
TEXT
MOVEMENT

17. TANGO
A, B, C, X and Y
Variations of a tragic, intense and melodramatic tango, unstructured at an appropriate time of the work.
SILENT SCENE
CHOREOGRAPHY

 

SET & COSTUME

Empty space. Clear, wide and high.
Set of black curtains that are defining and dividing space ingeniously and subtle, with geometric rigor.
Geometry applied to the movement to define the space within a box design and classic design, the Italian theater.
Game prospects and locations of bodies as volumes that invade the stage space.
Careful choice of scenic area for convenient relationship with the public at appropriate times of representation.
Search syncretism, monochrome, putting off unnecessary and useless elements decor.
Using the wide range of tonal variations that can multiply white luminosity.
The lighting creates climates and accompanies the action with a code that is decrypted within the coordinates of representation.
The scenario is not the place of the representation of reality. But a space to search for more intense, full of significance REALITY.

 

MUSIC

The music gives unity to the space, time, characters as well as fragments or different sequences. As an operatic score is the complement of the text is full of drama.
Plays with the concept of leitmotif.
The authors have looked upon as possible are:
Gyorgyi Ligeti, Laurie Anderson, John Cage, Michael Nyman, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Philip Glass, La Monte Young, Wim Mertens, John Adams, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Gavin Bryars

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