Emily's Inspiration

My inspiration, thus far...

I was trying to figure out why exactly Callaghan titled the play "Dead City", and then I came across a review that revealed that it is named after one of Patti Smith's song, which you can listen to here. These are the lyrics:

This dead city longs to be
This dead city longs to be free
Seven screaming horses
Melt down in the sun
Building scenes on empty dreams
And smoking them one by one

This dead city longs to be
This dead city longs to be living
Is it any wonder there's squalor in the sun
With their broken schemes and their lotteries
They never get nowhere

Is it any wonder they're spitting at the sun
God's parasites in abandoned sites
and they never have much fun

If I was a blind man
Would you see for me
Or would you confuse
The nature of my blues
And refuse a hand to me

Is it any wonder crying in the sun
Is it any wonder I'm crying in the sun
Well I built my dreams on your empty scenes
Now I'm burning them one by one

This damn city this dead city
Immortal city
Motor city
Suc-cess city
Longs to be
Longs to be
Free
Free
Free

Why she chose that song still doesn't really make much sense to me, however. I guess maybe the city is dead because people aren't really connecting to one another...?

Which brings me to what I feel the play is about to me, at this moment in time (and it will most likely change throughout the production, though this will still be equally as important). For me, the play is about so many people's inability to make real connections, to really touch one another, when we are so dependent on technology to communicate. I think this idea came about specifically because of the scene between Samantha and the young man. They'd been flirting over the internet, and when they finally meet in person they still can't make any sort of real connection. At first I tried imagining them actually having sex on stage, as many of us know I am not afraid of portraying, but it just didn't seem right. The stage directions never actually say they are physical, so I imagined them just standing there saying their lines, and it all clicked for me.

I haven't really been able to find too many images that really speak to this idea, but here are a few:

She's totally missing out on the beauty...
I like how there is a play between soft and hard in the picture, with the blurriness of the glass in front of such a technological setting.
By far my favorite of the bunch, this photo just screams "get off the fucking phone and concentrate on washing yourself!"
These two pictures are humorous, but really make me sad.
I just like how here technology is reaching out to something so beautiful and natural, in what is clearly a very dead city.

While I lament how technology is affecting our relationships, I also want to use technology to enhance the world of the play, not only with lights, but with sound and projections. As I confessed earlier, I love Sigur Rós, and I think they do an amazing job using technology in their show. What is most interesting about that, though, is that their music is almost always inspired by the nature of Iceland. Most recently I saw their lead singer, Jónsi, in concert. His new album was all about nature, which was heavily reflected in his concert. He used very beautiful, amazingly technical projections to depict this nature. Here are some images from that concert.

Notice the layering of the windows - the one with the tree is behind and to the side of the one with the fish (at least I think that's what those are).
The stage from the same angle, with different projections and lighting. It is amazing how much they can change the look and feel so seamlessly...this is why I think using technology is really important for this play.
And again. Obviously, I know they are working on a much larger scale (and budget), but I still think we can use some of these ideas.

I love how they used projections to recreate rain. At one part the rain got so violent, as did the music, and the band was all rocking out so that they they were moving with the rain, making it all seem like a torrential downpour.

These next images are all from previous Sigur Rós concerts.

I love this image because that lighting is so provocative. It's like nothing else in the world matters right now except for what he is playing.
I love the texture the projection over the scrim gives that image, especially with the musician being backlit.

Just a cool example of using a scrim and lighting, which can create such a dynamic image.

Another production that has given me a lot of inspiration is The Brother/Sister Plays by Tarell Alvin McCraney. I was able to see In the Red and Brown Water, one part of the collection of three plays, at Steppenwolf this spring.

There are a lot of similarities between that play and Dead City: multiple locations all in one town, actors playing several different characters each, heavily movement and rhythm based, non-traditional structures of dialogue, and even a throbbing, sexy club scene, disco ball and all:

In the production at Steppenwolf, they had an empty stage, not really any set, and we were able to somehow figure out where they were most of the time. This is good to know, because it means we don't have to be too specific with details; plus, we will have projections telling the audience where we are. But to emulate that production would be no fun for Alex.

What I really liked was that all of the characters had base costumes that were white, and then they would add (or subtract) pieces as needed per character. I liked this because it made it easier on the eyes to just have one dominant color on stage, and brought to mind a dance piece, which was also reflected in the abundance of movement. I have more specific ideas about costumes, but I will share those at a later date.

Tina Landau, the director, was one of the developers of the Viewpoints for the stage. It's not wonder, seeing as how I am crazy about the Viewpoints, why I loved this play so much. She created such dynamic (love that word!) stage pictures, and yet they didn't seem overly choreographed.

I just think this picture is stunning. Look at that repetition of an emotional gesture (sorry, Viewpoints talk). I think it's especially amazing how everything is so dark (the floor, the backdrop, their clothes and their skin), and yet it pops so much.

Here are simply some images, all of bodies in space, that I found interesting:


This reminded me of the image of Gabriel sprouting arms. It actually came up when I did a search for "human connection technology", or something like that.
Again, arms sprouting. Also, I really love how the skin pops against all that black.
I love the anger, strength, and new beginning that comes out of this image.

Finally, I'd like to leave you with some images of Patti Smith, and some of her drawings.



I love these colors, and the texture and shapes she's created here. And the title. This could very well be a jumping off point for a lot of the design elements.
How I imagine Jewel at her mother's funeral.
This is the cover of one of her albums. If Jewel's brain could be laid out on a piece of paper, I think it would look like this.
I love how the dress is so soft, light, and sheer, against the hard darkness of the stairs. I feel like this is how Jewel and Sam butt up against each other.
So punk rock.
One of her drawings of Rimbaud.
The lines and framing of this picture is very interesting. Very sharp, yet still that human quality, especially with the softness of the drapes on the floor.
Another one of her drawings of Rimbaud. (click on the image to see it against white)

And I'll leave you with this, my favorite image of Patti: