Themes III

In selecting Ophelia, or Gertrude, or whomever, what if every word in the play not correlated to the dominant topics of that chosen player were cut away? Could one then be said to see the play through the eyes of a solitary character? Could one who barely speaks become a sieve through which the play’s priorities are strained? Find in this sonification the tools for just such perspectival whittling. Here one chooses a single character whose dominant themes will constrain their speech and that of every other character’s as well. Then, when any player speaks a word correlated to those themes, a sound unique to the speaker will play. For example, if Hamlet is chosen as the sieve, then the sound unique to Ophelia will only play when she speaks words correlated to Hamlet’s themes. Through such constraint, the play is again and again made to conform to the preoccupations of its individual nodes. As you listen, consider how differences in rhythm, movement and momentum are afforded by each character’s perspective.