In the image above they are in a field made of plastic linens. The theatre makers have chosen various materials such as the polyethylene above to serve as matters of life. The polyethylene creates this strange field, it is also used to represent the soul that characters pull out from each others’ mouths as a symbolism of death.
Another such material is the crunchy brown paper. This paper is the cocoon out of which the characters emerge and into which they’re buried when they die. It also forms the body of the doll the characters unitedly control at the end.
The minimalism of materials creates familiarity and definitely forces the artists to think of creative ways to utilize them. The same materials reappear as different things, landing a visual and sonic texture to the play.
The world was constantly changing, shaping and reshaping as the characters developed, however, a question I always had to re-ask myself was: who are those people?
My first theory was that they are the different “I”s, multiple identities of a single person which fight, love, and discover themselves through getting to know each other. My second theory was that those people are gods building the world because at one point they start building a megapolis and inhabiting dolls into it.
Of course this megapolis could be the empire state of the mind but why push children dolls inside, I still don’t know. If anyone has seen this play and has an idea, please feel free to share. My best guess is that the army of children are the representations of what’s left of the characters’ childhoods which is buried inside this american dream of money represented by the blue skyscraper.
Either way, the characters are born, they live, they love, they dance, sing, and then they die.
To describe this play the best – it doesn’t have a moral. Doesn’t have much order either. The order is birth, exploration, and death. In many parts it shows the uncomfortable chaos, and the sudden moments of harmony in life.
The life could belong to anyone. There is no suggestion that this person has any specific profession, nationality or even language. If I was to say what this play is – it’s a depiction of what it is like inside a person going through life.
Mariam Mansuryan 