Sunday, January 06, 2008

IN THE BEGINNING




1. In the beginning The Muse created the words and the music.

2. Now humankind was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of their souls, and the Spirit of The Muse hovered over.

3. And The Muse said, “Let there be light,” and the stage was lit. 4. And the Muse saw that the light was good and separated the performers from the audience. 5. And there was tragedy and there was comedy—the first theatre.

6. And The Muse said, “Let there be conflict between the performers to separate words from words. 7. So The Muse made conflict and separated the words of theatre from the words of everyday existence. And it was so. 8. The Muse called the words “story.” And there was the storyteller, and the listener—a performance.

9. And The Muse said, “Let the stories be gathered into one place, and let sounds vibrate around them.” And it was so. 10. The Muse called the vibrating sounds “music.” Performers moved to the rhythms of the music and it was called “dance.” And The Muse saw that it was good.

11. And The Muse said, “Let the stories and their music be produced by living creatures according to their kinds: Ceremony, Ritual, Masquerade, Egungun, Italian Opera, Musical Theatre, Tragedy, Comedy, Farce, Beijing Opera, Capoeira, Puppetry, Pantomime, Noh, Kabuki, Sanskrit Drama, MTV—any event where two or more are gathered to express talent.” And The Muse saw that it was good.

12. The Muse blessed the performers and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply in number. Fill the earth with the light of theatre for the benefit of everything that has the breath of life.” And it was so.