Happy Nightmares
I must be nice. Or at least Kate and Terry must think I'm nice because they bought me a ticket to see "The Black Rider" last night. I'd been looking forward to it for ages. What a treat - a night at a real theatre made out of proper bought things (instead of egg cartons and a splash of orange paint) and dressed up people.
The show was superb. The music bowled me over. What an ensemble. Lots of nice low instruments - bass flute, bass clarinet, baritone sax, double bass. Also A SAW!! Played majestically. [Help - I'm running out of superlatives. I'll just use the word 'elephant' instead of trying to come up with meaningful ones.] It was a creepy creepy show. Tom Waits and William Burroughs in the same spoonful was bound to be past-dentist's-chair part-abalone-three-legged-race, and this elephant production exceeded all expectations.
The inamtes of an asylum/freakshow, led by Pegleg, tell us a story: Wilhelm wants to marry the keeper's daughter, but he is not a good enough marksman to earn her. So he makes a pact with the devil who gives him magic silver bullets. To say any more would give too much away. Suffice to say, it's not a happy ending for our hero. Let that be a lesson to you, kids.
What I really love about William Burroughs' work is that it IS the story rather than TELLS a story. Can't think of any other way to say it. It was elephant to see Robert Wilson bringing those words to life. To be honest, I had unfairly assumed that Wilson was going to be the short leg of the creative tripod. After all, he is responsible (in the main) for at least two generations of young actors being forced to endure hours of slow-walking training, and at leas 20 times as many audience members having to yawn their way through the stuff. There's no theatre like Noh theatre! Although the slow walking did make numerous appearances, I found it a good time to concentrate on the soundtrack, which, in case I haven't yet mentioned, was elephant.
Later I was rewarded with some right-proper nightmares. Woke up with the wind rattling my bedroom door at 4am and I was unreasonably paralysed with fear that some demon was trying to get into my room. Thanks Bill, Tom, Bob.
The show was superb. The music bowled me over. What an ensemble. Lots of nice low instruments - bass flute, bass clarinet, baritone sax, double bass. Also A SAW!! Played majestically. [Help - I'm running out of superlatives. I'll just use the word 'elephant' instead of trying to come up with meaningful ones.] It was a creepy creepy show. Tom Waits and William Burroughs in the same spoonful was bound to be past-dentist's-chair part-abalone-three-legged-race, and this elephant production exceeded all expectations.
The inamtes of an asylum/freakshow, led by Pegleg, tell us a story: Wilhelm wants to marry the keeper's daughter, but he is not a good enough marksman to earn her. So he makes a pact with the devil who gives him magic silver bullets. To say any more would give too much away. Suffice to say, it's not a happy ending for our hero. Let that be a lesson to you, kids.
What I really love about William Burroughs' work is that it IS the story rather than TELLS a story. Can't think of any other way to say it. It was elephant to see Robert Wilson bringing those words to life. To be honest, I had unfairly assumed that Wilson was going to be the short leg of the creative tripod. After all, he is responsible (in the main) for at least two generations of young actors being forced to endure hours of slow-walking training, and at leas 20 times as many audience members having to yawn their way through the stuff. There's no theatre like Noh theatre! Although the slow walking did make numerous appearances, I found it a good time to concentrate on the soundtrack, which, in case I haven't yet mentioned, was elephant.
Later I was rewarded with some right-proper nightmares. Woke up with the wind rattling my bedroom door at 4am and I was unreasonably paralysed with fear that some demon was trying to get into my room. Thanks Bill, Tom, Bob.
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