WRAETLICUE WYRD
OR
WONROUSLY STRANGE
A Hybrid Genre in Two Acts
**************************
CAST
Caedmon - a composer and pianist
Sophy - his companion, the story - teller
Calliope - Caedmon's tutelary spirit (soprano singing role)
Stage - hand - who becomes Train - conductor, who becomes
Jackal - head, who is finally revealed as Saiwala
(dancer with speaking part and small singing role, also
tambourine player)
Four small children - mimed acting and speaking roles; the oldest
has an extra part as Scriabin - piano - playing, and the
youngest has a small singing part
Flute, 2 English horns (in F), violin, cello, harp, 2 percussionists
(glockenspiel, xylophone, chimes, suspended cymbal, tambourine,
bongos, crotales, triangle and gong)
Two of the instrumentalists have extra speaking parts:
Saint Julian the Hospitaler Knight (cellist)
Tzhing, the unicorn (second english horn).
***************************
Synopsis
Caedmon, a composer and pianist, has been awakened to the existence of his
immortal soul. In the first act, through various means, he strives to coax it
from hiding and to strengthen it. Sophy aids him by providing practical
wisdom; she is also a storehouse of legends on the subject of immortality, and
functions as story - teller. The child - mimes enact her tales with the assistance
of the shadowy Stage -hand. Caedmon is also aided in his quest by
Calliope, his tutelary spirit, a visionary who expresses herself mainly through
poetry and song.
In the second act Caedmon's dreams pull the action out of his control, and
the hybrid genre breaks loose from its formal bounds. Unforseen but
ultimately fortuitous events conspire to bring about an apparition of what was
soughtg...but at a price the artist had never imagined.
**********************
Suggestions for Staging
Wratlicu Wyrd is a hybrid genre - part play, part musical, part philosophical
dialogue. It can be presented live or as cinema. It involves multi - lingual
dialogue (which should be clarified with subtitles), singing and recitation, acting
and mime, and special visual effects.
The basic set is a simple stage with a piano. The instrumental performers can
serve as integral parts of the staging: when not playing they could interact
naturally but discretely in the background. Alternatively they could be absent
form the stage and summoned at certain moments.
The essential visual ingredient is a series of images projected in some manner
onto the background. In Act One these are connected with Sophy's tales;
in Act Two they are related to transformations in the plot. These images
need not be too realistic: the fantastic and suggestive would be more helpful.
If possible the art - work should be alive - fluid, iridescent - while never
obtruding as foreground. Some visual details are specified in the body of the
text.
OR
WONROUSLY STRANGE
A Hybrid Genre in Two Acts
**************************
CAST
Caedmon - a composer and pianist
Sophy - his companion, the story - teller
Calliope - Caedmon's tutelary spirit (soprano singing role)
Stage - hand - who becomes Train - conductor, who becomes
Jackal - head, who is finally revealed as Saiwala
(dancer with speaking part and small singing role, also
tambourine player)
Four small children - mimed acting and speaking roles; the oldest
has an extra part as Scriabin - piano - playing, and the
youngest has a small singing part
Flute, 2 English horns (in F), violin, cello, harp, 2 percussionists
(glockenspiel, xylophone, chimes, suspended cymbal, tambourine,
bongos, crotales, triangle and gong)
Two of the instrumentalists have extra speaking parts:
Saint Julian the Hospitaler Knight (cellist)
Tzhing, the unicorn (second english horn).
***************************
Synopsis
Caedmon, a composer and pianist, has been awakened to the existence of his
immortal soul. In the first act, through various means, he strives to coax it
from hiding and to strengthen it. Sophy aids him by providing practical
wisdom; she is also a storehouse of legends on the subject of immortality, and
functions as story - teller. The child - mimes enact her tales with the assistance
of the shadowy Stage -hand. Caedmon is also aided in his quest by
Calliope, his tutelary spirit, a visionary who expresses herself mainly through
poetry and song.
In the second act Caedmon's dreams pull the action out of his control, and
the hybrid genre breaks loose from its formal bounds. Unforseen but
ultimately fortuitous events conspire to bring about an apparition of what was
soughtg...but at a price the artist had never imagined.
**********************
Suggestions for Staging
Wratlicu Wyrd is a hybrid genre - part play, part musical, part philosophical
dialogue. It can be presented live or as cinema. It involves multi - lingual
dialogue (which should be clarified with subtitles), singing and recitation, acting
and mime, and special visual effects.
The basic set is a simple stage with a piano. The instrumental performers can
serve as integral parts of the staging: when not playing they could interact
naturally but discretely in the background. Alternatively they could be absent
form the stage and summoned at certain moments.
The essential visual ingredient is a series of images projected in some manner
onto the background. In Act One these are connected with Sophy's tales;
in Act Two they are related to transformations in the plot. These images
need not be too realistic: the fantastic and suggestive would be more helpful.
If possible the art - work should be alive - fluid, iridescent - while never
obtruding as foreground. Some visual details are specified in the body of the
text.
