Thursday, February 07, 2008

Silence Is Olden

Shhhh, Don't Say A Word

London's National Theatre is to stage the world's longest silent play. For one hour and 40 minutes, 450 characters playing 27 actors will utter not a single word between them. Austrian playwright Peter Handke's "The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other" is set in a city square, but there is no plot and virtually no character appears twice. The idea apparently came to Handke as he sat at a cafe on an Italian piazza watching strangers come and go. However, the silence is punctuated by music, the occasional scream and the recorded sounds of an aeroplane or workmen drilling.

FOOTNOTE: It's a mute point.

7 comments:

virtual nexus said...

.......... :)

The Egel Nest said...

Alternate Footnote:

Killing me softly...

Bradley
The Egel Nest

Sandi McBride said...

Except for the occasional scream, sounds the perfect place for a nap...
Sandi

Merisi said...

Oh, next time I'll sit at a Viennese cafe' with a piazza view, I'll pretend to watch a play. Thank heaven, pedestrians still haven't copyrighted their every silent move on public squares (meno male, as the Italians would say).

PRH said...

1 hour 40 minutes? Call me strange, but I now think "I've heard it all"

Even when not hearing anything....

Jillie Bean (AKA Bubba's Sis) said...

I think I'll skip that one...

Lew said...

Sort of like "Waiting for Godot", but with a much larger cast. The footnote is priceless!