This Was The End

Abstract

In this article I describe the process of conceiving, creating and directing a performance called This Was The End, and the sound and video installation that archives it. This exploration of aging and memory has been a decade long project inspired by Uncle Vanya’s desperate thought ‘Suppose I live to be 60?’ This simple prompt lead to my collaboration with a quartet of older actors, whose careers in New York City’s downtown experimental theatre scene encompass Charles Ludlam’s Ridiculous Theatrical Company and Joe Chaiken’s Open Theater. I reflect on how their presence in the process opened up an exploration of memory on multiple fronts from the role memorization plays in conventional theater, to working with audio recordings of the actors’ memories of Chehkov’s play, to design considerations. I describe how the set, itself a recovered piece of architecture, is activated in performance with an integrated analog sound and digital video system inspired by the optical science behind Proust’s formulation of memory as the convergence of past and present. Through the scholarship of Roger Shattuck I explain how taking a Proustian approach to Chekhov’s dramatic trajectory lead to the deeper underlying question of the work - What do we do with our past? What can we make of it? Finally I consider how memorializing the fragility, resilience and persistence of these older performers as an interactive sculptural installation serves to deny erasure and remind us of a life before that continues.

Notes

1 The actor wears an ear piece connected wirelessly to an off-stage prompter or playback system for the purpose of instructing and directing the actor while live on stage or for playback of their lines.

2 The lyrics of Beautiful Ohio were written in 1918 by Ballard MacDonald with music by Robert A. King. The melody is partly based on “Song of India” by Rimsky-Korsakov and and “Beautiful Dreamer” by Stephen Foster. The final line of the song, “Beautiful Ohio, in dreams again I see/Visions of what used to be” worked well with Sonya’s emotional state, grappling with the unrequited love of her youth.