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Between the stillness of the reader count odometer and the lack of commentary, I'm beginning to question the efficacy of this little blog. Are you out there? Have you stopped looking? Commenting? Please leave a comment if you can- you can be absolutely anonymous -- and let me know if you still check in from time to time. I'll post another "Silence Question", too, in the meantime. Maybe that will spark some lively discussion!

Germination and Breaking Silence



Today's Question: What kinds of ideas or thoughts do you simply "sit with" for a while before sharing? What determines when you break the silence? What has it felt like when you did?

Is it my hair?

We've had a change in plans for the June performance. Due to a number of circumstances beyond our control, Gina will now be performing two pieces by the well known playwrights whose pictures are shown below:



As one whose hair has always evoked *some* sort of reaction in most people, I feel I have a special bond with these two guys. And they both pushed the conventional boundaries of the theatrical traditions of their day with evocative portraits of the bleak and humorous landscape of the human condition. They moved me incredibly the first time I read them back in college. The very first scene I performed as a Drama major was from "Miss Julie" by August Strindberg, and I became downright obsessed with Samuel Becket about a year later after reading his novel Malloy. So, it seems only fitting to visit them again as part of the Silence Project.

Or maybe it's just about the hair.

The program for the June performance will now be Strindberg's "The Stronger" and Samuel Beckett's "Rockabye", with a short audio piece in between gleaned from the comments left on this blog and materials gathered from live interviews.

If you were looking forward to "Request Concert", don't worry. There are still plans in the works to mount this production at a later date. And we are in serious talks with a local radio personality who was recently silenced. He's very interested in being involved.

Stay tuned for more information, updates, and comment requests soon!

Breaking the Silence/Beginning the Project

This is a Nikki S. Lee-esque image for the brochure promoting the silence show this summer. We've settled on the haunting one woman piece by Kroetz, "Request Programme', which focuses for an entire hour on the series of silent rituals performed by a working class single woman in her home in between work and bed. While the woman never speaks or interacts with anyone during the entire show, she listens to a popular radio program which combines various styles of music and interviews for much of her evening. This is where we'll be using many of the interviews and letters collected so far, in addition to putting out a call for original music from all genres that somehow deal with the theme of silence, breaking silence, etc. Interested in contributing? Got a band? A guitar? Some lyrics or a poem? An image you'd like us to consider for the limited visual elements of the piece? Stay tuned here for more information on how to contribute.

Of course, you can always write about the effect and purpose that silence has in your life at any time. Simply hit the comments button below and start typing. We've all been silent for a while in this tiny blogosphere, but it only takes one voice to get things started again.

Looking forward to hearing from everyone,

Gina

Whose Silence Bothers You the Most?

The Day the Music Died?

A poster promoting Britain's "Day without Music" this year.

November 21st, the day before Thanksgiving in the United States was Britain's Day Without Music. Bill Drummond initiated the day three years ago as an extension of his own experiment with aural fasting. Here's a link to the official site, as well as a wonderful Salon.com article about the viability of escaping the incessant drone of of manipulative music in public spaces in America and learning how to listen again. What do you think?

http://www.nomusicday.com/

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2007/11/22/no_music_day/

Silent Movies

Love 'em? Hate 'em? Favorites? Why?
(FYI, the image above is from the gorgeous silent film, "The Passion of Joan of Arc". Click on the words "Silent Movies" for a wonderful database of silent cinema.)

What about the use of silence in the "modern" cinema? How about any scenes in which there is neither dialogue or music? Do you find the sound design of current popular cinema overwhelming or exciting? Why?

Hearing Aids

How has your relationship to sounds and silence changed as you have aged? Have you “heard” less or more as you’ve matured? How do you think this has affected people’s perception of you?