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Thirteen Ways of Nevermore: Arkansas, 12/31/2010


by Catherine Davis


Pas de cinq mille, in B minor.
(The stage will be crowded.)
Instruments: violin, cello, blue guitar, tambourine.
 
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I
Scene: MIDNIGHT all day. Bleak December. A chiaroscuro, snowing blackbirds.
 
II
Swirling FLIGHT. [Andantino > vivace > agito > furioso ffff]
 
III
Action: NO ONE hears them cry out — in this un-startled ear of night. At least, no one admits it afterwards.
 
IV
Always there are shadows, ghosts rise and fall.  It happens all the time. This is only a part of the PANTOMIME.
 
V
Primary characters: an INNUENDO, perhaps: being slight of brain, they follow the wrong leader. Or, not understanding signals, they mistake the red beacon and fly against a GREEN LIGHT.
 
VI
Costume: Extravagant black plumage, with RED-tipped wings.
 
VII
Secondary characters: the THIN MEN, who prefer golden birds. To embrace the beauty of light or the beauty of dark, this was never their question.
 
VIII
Pre-Scene: Beebe was already knee-deep in BIRD SHIT. (Hm, recreate or not?)
 
IX
Abruptly: in a denser air, between issue and return, not a FEATHER flutters. Sudden, utter stillness. [Mysterioso]
 
X
Now, five thousand: plummeting. Keeping time, time, time. PLUMMETING, each a singular instant.
 
XI
The breast, the bone, dashed bodies, on stone. Maybe ASPHALT. (In sixes, dancers crash to floor.) [Sforzando piano sfzp]
 
XII
Easy as EGGSHELLS. Broken beaks, broken bells. Wingless and withered, by the blunt force of earth. Crimson blooms on each breast, spreading. Spreading, until: fade to RED.  [Morendo]
 
XIII
Where do I begin?


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