Tuesday 29 April 2008

Libretto / Almodovar


We had a reading of the play two days ago, which allowed me to finally meet all the actors involved in the project.
Well.
I met them… indeed. How else can I put it...?
I’m aware that this was the first reading. Even if I didn’t understand a word, I had this nasty feeling that the play could dangerously become some flamboyant camp slapstick show designed solely for the gay audience: a lonely mother in the ordinary madness of her obsession, two gay sons, a transvestite father… 
I take Pedro Almodovar as a perfect example of how such thorny themes can be handled with wit and sensitivity. Despite the cultural differences from one continent to another, the human issues remain the same and the gay issue is only a backdrop.
This is my fourth venture in the theatrical field and once again, I feel stuck in a pool of problems. The play has not yet reached its final state in my opinion. Yu-Gou may have re-written some parts of it, but I don’t find the result at all satisfactory. He seems to hit some psychological blockage which prevents him from turning comic-strip characters into full-fleshed ones. I will not wait any longer and will start writing the music. Yu-Gou can then fit in the lyrics later.
My ten day trial has come to an end, it’s now time to really get my hands in the mud!


Beethoven must be wriggling in his tomb. In France, his name has been given to a electronic device which emits ultra high frequency sounds in order to keep away nuisances, some animals (which ones?), bugs as well as youngsters under the age of 25 - and possibly musicians too; people with a sensitive ear... 
I just picture some of my neighbours buying this device to prevent me from making any music… Ironic when it’s a famous fact that Beethoven was deaf himself…
From what I’ve heard, a couple of government ministers  have rejected it.
This invention comes from Great Britain and is produced by the Compound Security Systems company. They were ‘kinder’ to name it Mosquito instead of Beethoven
Maybe they will come up with a similar device to keep back foreigners from entering a country.
In Taiwan Beethoven’s world famous piano piece ‘Für Elise’ is used as a ringtone when the garbage lorry is coming near…

[…]


Fang-Yi once described herself as a young girl who grew up without self confidence and found shelter in her passion for dance. Now magazines and reviews cannot hide their praise for her: "the second coming of Martha Graham," "the most gifted interpreter of Graham to appear in decades"
Simon said of Fang Yi that she is a simple and extremely nice person and indeed she was. She was waiting for me at the Taiwan Artists Village with her partner and a friend. I immediately felt at ease with her. I like people who do not show who they are and take you by storm right  the after the first second you meet them. She’s heard of Jo and his talent as a choreographer, wants to build a repertoire for her, explore more of her physicality, the possibilities for a dancer her age - 36 is seen as fairly old for a dancer. I’m sure Jo would do wonders with her. Not only because she’s an outstanding performer, but because her approach to creation and art is different than
As we talked, I could see her beautiful big eyes glowing with this contained passion that makes her so unique. So the dice are thrown. I will write to Jo to introduce her to him. Then we’ll see. The same happened to me when I came to Niigata for the first time to meet him, four years ago.
[…]
Ching-Yao gave me a lethal weapon against the mosquito: an electric tennis racket. I can’t say mosquitoes are my best friends, but I feel some sympathy for them dying this way.... They’re not human, but they’re still living beings and biting us isn’t something they do out of wickedness. They just survive that way. Think of what we do to our planet and to each other. So each time I hear them snap like pop corn when I manage to catch them on the electric net of the racket, I can’t help but feeling like a blood-thirsty murderer.


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