1 October, 2009

My dear Sir,

My research into your play keeps mounting, and the sheer amount of material for me to sift through is a daunting task. The dining table at my house is covered in stacks of books and printouts more than a foot high. I'm currently focusing on discovering just what life was like in rural Russia in the lat 19th Century, but most of what I can find is about peasant life. This has been remarkably interesting, particularly in regards to Natasha's background (though she wasn't really a peasant, was she), but what about bourgeois day to day activities? I've new perspective on the "sending away of the mummers" in Act II, though. Apparently, the towns and small cities swelled at Shrovetide, as young peasants swarmed to town for the festivities. But these weren't necessarily the happy carnivals I imagined. The "carolers" often included young hooligans, and their songs were comprised of veiled and not-so veiled threats of what would happen should the homeowners not give them money. Real violence could occur, and street-brawls were not uncommon during the festival period. So when Natasha tells them not to come, there's a threat there of outside attack that I hadn't considered before.

I'm finding it difficult to find ways to explore your use of time theatrically. I printed up a timeline of events mentioned in the play, beginning with the founding of higher education in Moscow, since there is the argument over how many universities are in the city. It begins in 1682 and runs through 2198. I placed the action of the first act in 1894, based on the year it was written and the actual calendar, which I was able to do based on Shrovetide Thursday in relation to Easter and other events mentioned. The timeline is fifteen pages long, all taped together like a scroll. Since some years contain many more events than others, if each year took up the same amount of page space, it would be well over 258 pages! I've found it to be an extremely useful visual reference for the way the people of the play relate to time themselves. What's waiting a few months versus 258 pages of blank space?

This week, we conducted an experiment with time and voice that yielded some interesting results. Taking three different translations of Irina's "I want to work" speech in Act I, each of three actresses read the speech concurrently, taking care to pace themselves so they were in generally the same thought pattern at the same time. They spaced themselves around the space, and the experience was quite exciting. While individual words and sentences could not be discerned, the meaning of the speech remained intact. The thought patterns and individual beats within the speech were still immediately accessible, though many of the words themselves were lost. Time seem expanded and circular and ultimately vacant. The effect was similar to what is called "bullet time" in film, when the camera moves into extreme slow motion and pans around an object in motion, as in The Matrix films. I think today we'll do some exploration on waiting. What does it mean to wait? How do we experience it?

Thank you for not sending me a cease and desist letter, or for telling me that my experiment is one of which you disapprove. I was afraid you'd tell me to stop, or at the very least not to write to you anymore. I assume in your silence that I have your support. The path ahead is wild, and exciting, and unknown, and I'm more than a little scared. Your implied appreciation and interest is a great solace for me.

Yours,
Curtis Young