Dan Kelly / theater / Box / conceptual script

© 1994-2001 Dan Kelly

Box explores the gender paradigm or the most prevalent example of how we humans choose to filter our experience by perceiving only what is available through our personal world view, rather than live without limits. The assumptions we make about our existence are so integrated into who we believe ourselves to be that they are invisible. We live in an invisible box which protects us from direct experience, from knowing awe and wonder. No where is this more apparent than in examining our assumptions about gender. It is the most insidious paradigm, crossing both culture and generation. "Box" manifests, recognizes and transcends the gender paradigm in three intuitive and user friendly acts.

Synopsis

There are three acts Paradigm, (make the box), Recognition (see the box) and Transcendence (no more box).

Paradigm

Short chunks of audio narrative are edited to form an almost subliminal rhythm. On screen animation of machine/abstract life forms are making connections, becoming part of a complex structure. The combination of human voices juxtaposed to the activity of the creatures/objects on screen gives us a sense that the ideas the narrative expresses are alive, in the sense of Richard Dawkin's memes. The creatures link up to form a very large and complex colony of ideas, which we see forming on screen as the connection process continues. Meanwhile the dancers (female) on stage move through a series of iconic gestures, embodying the ideas expressed in the bits and pieces of narrative. The dancers are followed by three camera carrying observers (male) who move at the edge of the dancer's perception. The overall feeling this first act manifests is that of a hypnotic ritual, as if the dancers and camera observers are asleep, in dream motion. They are not asleep but through their movement, they draw the audience into a mystical state. The dancers are shaman bringing the audience to the limits of their perception, to the edge of their world view, by coaxing the world view itself into the visual domain. Eventually on screen we see the structure in it's entirety, and within it, the earth is spinning silently.

Recognition

Our primary dancer suddenly notices her video shadow, her observer and she moves to him. This is a very uncomfortable situation for the observer. She removes the video camera and other gadgetry which shrouds him, liberating him from it's encumbrance. He is both confused and vulnerable. Panicking, he jumps off the stage and leads the audience in a lively Donahue-esque interaction, soliciting responses from individuals on questions of gender, sex, and women's cosmetics. Although this serves as a temporary smokescreen and misdirection from the encounter with the dancer he eventually returns to the stage as he must to face her. She accepts him, and they embrace.

Transcendence

The complex structure instantly evaporates, and the dance begins again. It echoes the icons of the first act, but infused with a wild energy, and freedom. It is a dance beyond gravity, beyond limits. A dance of transcendence, direct experience beyond the frontier of paradigm, metaphor and world view. The screen will interact with the dancers using digitally processed video from the live feed of the camera observers. The dancer's move into the audience and distribute tiny boxes stamped with the performance logo. Figures from history rise up from the audience and join the dancers. These people will be recruited from the preshow loiterers and early arrivals, costumed and overcoated, and scattered like seeds through the audience before the show. They will also be exposed to crucial backstage cast improvisation - odd happenings, scandal, personal confessions from cast members, weird surrealistic events and technical catastrophes - blurring the border between performance and real life. Their impressions of the cast and show will spread around the audience as wild rumors before the show begins. As the credits run, and the cast returns to stage to bow, the screen will display each cast member, and a synopsis of the rumor scenario associated with them. The fact that the audience will be seeing and reading the very information they heard as "rumor" will tend to blur the line between real life and the performance experience even further. Each historical character's face, having been digitized preshow, will be displayed with the rest of the cast during the credits. Interspersed with the cast credits, short video clips of the preshow backstage improvisations will run, documenting the genesis of each rumor and the historical character's exposure to it.

Issues

Box talks about women's position in society. By taking the everyday out of context, in this case statements about women from a variety of common sources, we accentuate the absurdity of the statements, and the motivations which make them possible. Where gender is concerned, we (participants in society and culture) have chosen to restrict our perception and it is impossible to imagine anything beyond what these limits permit us to experience. Even to recognize that a system of limits exists, to see the edge of our unique world view is difficult, without some kind of shock or challenge to "wake us up". The event "box" is designed to tinker with our perception, so that we become more aware of the borders we impose on our world. By seeing our borders, we might move beyond them and explore the world as it is. To explore each other as we truly are considering gender as but one of a plethora of individual characteristics, to be without limits when we are communicating, could be another frontier computers can help us explore. Maybe THAT's what an orgasm would feel like in virtual reality. Computers could enhance communication if implemented as perception challenging and mind altering tools. Our most pervasive global box is the impoverished communication between male and non-male genders. To alter our perception and vaporize this box would empower the other half of the human population, and facilitate cooperative global stewardship by all genders. Box uses desktop visual computers and the timeless perception altering technique of dance to challenge our paradigm of gender. Blurring the line between "real life" and performance is worthwhile, because it reflects the blurry border between actual first hand experience, and experience mediated by machines - television, telephony, computers, print. It is possible to communicate beyond limits whether mediated by machine or not. This is the essential message of blurred borders, paradigms are not inherent in any technology, they are transparent perceptual filters sustained by each individual to limit their experience. Our machines will only augment our world view, unless we design them to do otherwise.

Box

Director's notes

© 1994-1998 Dan Kelly

The following material is part of the director's informal notes, and has been included in the Siggraph 94 submission packet in order to provide more detail about the box project which has very little visual documentation available at this time.

ACT I - Paradigm

(make the box)

The massive slow sub rhythm of the soundtrack brings the structure into being, boom...boom...boom. The rhythm is being suggested by the words rather than coming out prominently, cause this coincides with the invisibility of the wall, and is sympathetic to the constructive process - the magic chant that makes the invisible visible. With the hidden rhythm, we bring the box to the fore, resplendent in all it's detail. (see storyboard) So the first act is these heavy rhythmic components both visual and audio, which gives us a sense of the construction, creation of this box. The rhythmic pulse of growth like the throb of an ecosystem evolving getting more complex. So it grows, it evolves but the machine gears nuts wires aspect reminds us it is an idea of human origin. We see our earth in there, and now what? This is the moment we create when suddenly she understands this is where she is, who she is defined by the limits of this box. Objects which are a fusion of machine and organic elements connect to each other creating a complex structure the box. They are symbolic of the personal agendas, customs, beliefs, perceptions, cultural expectations, prejudice, need to belong, family indoctrination, and all the rest of those crazy memes.

ACT II - Recognition

(see the box)

Light a fuse now, she is aggravated, frustrated, waking up. She swings and sees the camera double take maybe and (on-screen) Kaboom! out pops the earth, (shoot a spiral out here to sync up with poster art) and then the doink, doink doink of the bounce is all we hear as all the dancers freeze on screen. Silence, major pause. other dancers resume the pattern. She approaches him, perhaps we hear the audio of that artist guy, the lies stuff. she strips him of his stuff, disgusted like gutting a fish, but fascinated non the less, strange fascination. He is totally embarrassed at a loss. If we can work sandwich board guy in here, or maybe phil donahue character, wham a total side track to drive it home, kaboom lights up and hello everyone with big applause sign flashing off stage runs the main dude, grabs a flashy sparkle blue tux coat and off he goes into the audience, trailing another camera guy right up to unsuspecting members of the audience, scuse me miss, but I was wondering where did you buy that lovely coat and your lipstick miss, can I ask you what brand of lipstick is that you are wearing? What is that lovely fragrance, from where is it coming, (he starts to sniff women in the audience, sniff, sniff) You are the source, the source of my inspiration, a poem to my nose. Gentlemen lets give a hand to all of our little ladies for being everything we've always wanted them to be, for having the pluck and determination to be standing right here by our side on THE EDGE. (james brown but it wouldn't be nothing without a woman or a girl) (applause sign again-men only. director guy pointing to it waving his hands more more.) Applause continues, he waves to the audience, does that fake run back up to the stage, stands there on-stage waving, director brings down the applause, screen winks out. Spot on him, he starts looking uncomfortable, applause dies down, stops. He stands there, fidgeting, then takes off the jacket, and hesitantly, back downstage to resume his stance, very insecure. * when confronted by a hole in a the paradigm or spontaneous paradigm failure the male character rather than being right there with the truth picking it up and all, looks for any escape possible, and so rushes off to throw up a smokescreen from which to rebuild the box materialize the pretty fabric which conceals the scrambling taking place behind the scenes to put the show back together. He is in the audience, trying to draw them into the lovely paradigm, leverage their combined reality to help make it fly. But the visibility of the box makes it even more apparent to the audience that he is serving it's agenda, and not his own. His efforts come across as comical, soliciting no response but laughter and anarchy. He makes a valiant effort, even so, and then returns to the stage playing the victor, desperately trying to keep the facade going, the paradigm intact. It doesn't happen, and ultimately, he is left with himself, and her. The rest of the dancers resume their quiet reflection of the first piece. His vulnerability is way apparent, and she sees how naked he is, lost, alone. She sees the truth of the paradigm - separation, disconnection, end of perception. She holds him, and breaks the paradigm

ACT III - Transcendence

(no more box)

Another pause, paula reaches out and hugs him, he is very stiff, then relaxes into it. phif! box evaporates on screen, and the wild finale begins. CG to interactive follow, all cameras on dancers - fire@#! She dances, he's the camera again, they reflect the icons of the paradigm, for those icons which are worth keeping but as patterns in a wild exploratory fire dance. The stage explodes into the audience as dancers begin pulling historical characters out of their seats to do some box distribution. Famous faces from history flash on the screen between the hot interactive dance. Boxes are gone, everyone returns to the stage, music wraps up, curtain down up again for cast bow. They split credits run on monitor, this gives the dancers time to run around to the front to greet the audience as they walk out. End of credits, screen thanks for coming careful driving home. end of show. "cast members can sign your boxes in the lobby."

DANCERS

Principles

Sarah George

Vicki Tobia

Mary Higgins

Elisa Brabenec

Paula Vinzi

Apprentices

Suzy Rippy

Elizabeth Senkowski

Katy McIntyre

Emily Crandell

Jennifer Bardenhagen (understudy)

SHADOWS Dan Kelly

Phil Briggs

Brian Donelan

TECH

Robert Stevenson

Dirk Schwarz