MBOAF 8 - Alice

"Man: Biology of a Fall"
Music by Evan Hause, Libretto by Gary Heidt
Act II, Scene 1
Performed 10/7/07 at Kumble Theater in Brooklyn, NY

Directed by Jyana S. Gregory
Conducted by Evan Hause
Sets: Rumiko Ishii
Costumes: Jessica Ford
Lights: Matthew Richards

ACT TWO, SCENE 1
Sunday after the Lodge, Frank (Steven Ebel) is at home with his wife Alice (Mary Ellen Assue).

ALICE
You said nothing at dinner,
You hardly ate.
Just pushing around
The food on your plate.
It's late now Frank
The kids are in bed
So what's going on
Inside your big head?

OLSON
I wish I could tell you
But I'm glad that I can't.

ALICE
I married a Sphinx
who walks like a man!

OLSON
That's funny, Alice.

ALICE
You're usually funny,
You're unusually wise.
You're handsome and dashing,
at least to my eyes;
How lucky could one
Wisconsin boy be?
Luckier still,
You're married to me.

OLSON
It's good to be near you, my dear.

ALICE
Do you remember our wedding day?

FRANK
Which part?

ALICE
That joke you played when you switched the rings.

FRANK
I gave your niece a different one to bring, that's all.

ALICE
When I tried to put it on you,
it was four sizes too small.

ALICE
I'm glad your conference ended early.
Oh, there you go, getting surly--
I must have mentioned something wrong--
What, you prefer meetings to run long?

OLSON
It's not that, Alice--
They-- the-- I can't tell you.

ALICE
Then tell me abstractly,
in human terms.
Just leave out
The secret germs.

OLSON
I took a stand.
It was not debated.
I was shot down,
and humiliated.

ALICE
Oh, Frank,
Dear God,
They don't know
what a good man they've got.

OLSON
I'm going to have to resign, I've made a terrible mistake.

ALICE
They have to let you quit.
OLSON
I've done all they asked
No matter how extreme
ALICE
You've got to get your old self back
The man with a trick up his sleeve
OLSON
If only I could
I'd be a roofer...
ALICE
If only you would
...a professor... a scholar!
OLSON
...an ice cutter
I'm so alone
ALICE
You're at home now
OLSON
Secrets tear me up inside
ALICE
You're tired all the time
OLSON
That trickster has all but died
ALICE
A thespian turned mime
OLSON
You deserve everything
ALICE
You give me everything

OLSON
I'm tied up in knots
Bloody MKULTRA scum!
My life is tied to other ones.
Although I fear for my life,
I can't confess it to my wife.
--------
Cameras: Orin Buck & Michael Sandoval
Sound: Dan Gaydos
Video editing: Evan Hause

www.manbiologyofafall.com

This opera is a work of fiction based upon true events and people.

Copyright Evan Hause & Gary Heidt

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Olson
• Frank
• Contemporary
• Opera
• Hause
• Heidt
• Defenestration