SO, in looking at the idea that you might have a character that would manifest in both worlds- Michael's "real world" and Aaron's "world of imagination"- it seemed that Robert would very clearly be crossing lines between worlds quite a bit. I have felt this from the beginning of my work on the piece, as Robert has a more ethereal presence on his hand-held clarinet than on the bass-clarinet. And so, it seems clear that the bass-clarinet with its inescapable timbre would be a part of the "real world". Indeed, it is the "traffic" with the French Horn and Trombone.
This meant that Robert would have to be going form one world to another. Often. And, I have to say, that I was struck by a conversation I had with Robert last year, in which he talked about his association with the Speaker in the poem Eld-Klotter, and he also talked about his thoughts on the word that we translate as Stealthily. ("Stealthily we milked the cosmos and survived.") In that line, he said that he would think of it in the context of a burglar, taking something undetected. This idea of stealing time or energy was really what resonated. And I started to think of Robert's character in very human terms. So it made sense to me that he would not be someone who was going to live his whole life in the imaginary world, and that as someone in the "real world" he would be working at not feeling trapped there. In a sense, he seemed like someone who was in Michael's world living a parallel life, but who was able to transcend the world in a way that Michael could not. So, in a sense, I see Robert moving from the periferal world where Michael is to, but being able to enter body and soul into the imagined world. Robert and I had a grea conversation which supports this that I will post the notes of later. Here is a snippet:
"Everyone has these two sides- the real world and the imaginary, but not everyone can be in touch with it, or connected with it. Some are only in the real world, Two sides for everyone. A journey for Michael to explore his imaginary side and getting in touch with that, and perhaps meeting Kathleen there or not. "
So now I was starting to get some ideas for movement and relationships within the space, and now clearly Kathleen was entering the picture.
How to explain this...? It seems that Kathleen somehow exists only in the imagined world. I had been thinking since my first workshop that Kathleen was going to be involved in something "on the other side"- I thought of her as dead by the end of that workshop. Now, I don't know if that's exctly true, but it seemed that given her interactions with Robert, Michael and Aaron in the past, that this might be true. Also, given her interactions with Robert on Eld-Klotter, and an interesting comment that Henny made on the phone regarding the nourishing energy that the Speaker is receiving from the every powerful cosmos, that perhaps Kathleen is related to an idea of light or energy.
In fact, Ellen and I even discussed the idea that she might be a star of some sort. But then I spoke to Kathleen, and asked her her thoughts. We went back to the discussion about her character seeming dead, and we traced through that, and the comments that Robert made about Michael's journey, and it began to seem clearer and more concrete: Kathleen was an individual that Michael was close to at some point, whom he lost. Michael has been unable to move forward, despite the desire that resides within him (Aaron) to move ahead, and leave his old world behind. It became possible that Michael was somehow mired in his "real" world.
This has led to some great ideas. For example, having Kathleen interact with Michael while he is in bed at the beginning. Having her draw Aaron out into her world in Minnena. There are other thoughts in her interactions with others in Minnena that Ellen may be able to color as well. This includes Angela in particular.
There is a point in all of this that makes me feel that Kathleen is somehow interacting with Aaron/Michael in an attempt to help Michael let go and move on. That somehow Michael has brought her here, and will not let her go. She, then must somehow get him to let her go. And her interactions with Aaron are towards that end. And also towards the end of Michael letting go in general.
Make sense? I think Kathleen might have some comments about this.
I sent this late. I am hoping to get caught up this weekend, and that tomorrow will be more about some other points with other players and their characters.
Yes, I have felt for a long time now that Michael and I are in different worlds. At first, I thought it was as simple as Michael is alive and I am dead. But I think it is more complex; that I am differing facets of the "unseen" world. In "Firejottings", I am the memory of a relationship with Michael's character, and really, that is where I begin to feel that Aaron/Robert/Michael are all aspects of the same character, an archtetypal everyman hero figure. In "Memories Look at Me", I am not a specific memory, but memories. In an improv based on this poem between Aaron and I in January 2008, I was his Memories. "Romanesque Arches" feels like a meeting of these two worlds, real/unreal, seen/unseen, living/dead, the profane/the divine: it is a place that, for the speaker in the poem, truly achieves the purpose of the ancient architecture.
OK - more in Sweden. Must practice & pack for tomorrow! Kathleen
Posted by: Kathleen | May 26, 2009 at 03:36 PM