In Darkest America: Two Plays

Excerpt

From the playwright's note for Tone Clusters:

Tone Clusters is not intended to be a realistic work, thus any inclination toward the establishment of character should be resisted. Its primary effect should be visual (the dominance of the screen at center stage, the play of lights of sharply contrasting degrees of intensity) and audio (the VOICE, the employment of music—"tone clusters" of Henry Cowell and/or Charles Ives, and electronic music, etc.) The mood is one of fragmentation, confusion, yet, at times strong emotion. A fractured narrative emerges which the audience will have no difficulty piecing together even as—and this is the tragi-comedy of the piece—the characters Mr. and Mrs. Gulick deny it.

In structure, Tone Clusters suggests an interview, but a stylized interview in which questions and answers are frequently askew. Voices trail off into silence or may be mocked or extended by strands of music. The VOICE is sometimes overamplified and booming; sometimes marred by static; sometimes clear, in an ebullient tone, like that of a talk-show host. The VOICE has no identity but must be male. It should not be represented by any actual presence on the stage or within view of the audience. At all times, the VOICE is in control; the principals on the stage are dominated by their interrogator and by the screen which is seemingly floating in the air above them, at center stage. Indeed the screen emerges as a character.

The piece is divided into nine uneven segments. When one ends, the lights dim, then come up again immediately. (After the ninth segment lights go out completely and darkness is extended for some seconds to indicate that the piece is ended: it ends on an abrupt cut off of lights and images on screens.) By degree the Gulicks become somewhat accustomed to the experience of being interviewed and filmed, but never wholly accustomed; they are always slightly disoriented, awkward, confused, inclined to speak slowly and methodically or too quickly, "unprofessionally," often with inappropriate emotion (fervor, enthusiasm, hope sudden rage, or no emotion at all (like "computer voices"). Gulicks may at times speak in unison (as if one were an echo of the other); they may mimic the qualities of tone cluster music or electronic music (I conceive of their voices, and that of the VOICE, as music of a kind); should the director wish, there may be some clear-cut relationship between subject and emotion or emphasis—but the piece should do no more than approach "realism," and then withdraw. The actors must conceive of themselves as elements in a dramatic structure, not as "human characters" wishing to establish rapport with an audience.

Tone Clusters is about the absolute mystery—the not knowing—at the core of our human experience. That the mystery is being exploited by a television documentary underscores its tragi-comic nature.

Awards

• The Best American Short Plays, 1991-1992: Tone Clusters
• Heidemann Award for One-Act Plays, 1990 Co-winner: Tone Clusters