Billed as an "experimental opera" by South African multimedia artist Kentridge, this was truly a sight to behold. Refuse The Hour was truly multimedia experience. Instead of trying to explain the opera, it might work better to list my observations.
1) A drum set suspended upside down from the ceiling, plays a computer controlled percussion sequence.
2) Narrator Kentridge tells the story of his father telling the story of Perseus inadvertently killing his grandfather.
3) African dancers with megaphones perform in front of super sized metronomes.
4) "Band" consisting of trumpet, trombone, tuba, and violin (which was made from a bicycle seat hooked to a mini-megaphone) accompanies the opera.
5) Opera singer in the balcony sings aria while singer on stage copies by singing same sequence backward.
6) Kentridge speaks on images traveling at the speed of light and that visions of his youth may just be passing Saturn by now.
I' m sure that I am missing or misconstruing some or all of the events in Refuse the Hour, but this Kentridge production was thoroughly enjoyable. With equal parts Laurie Anderson, Rube Goldberg, Alvin Ailey, Samuel Beckett,Audra Macdonald, and Carl Sagan....Refuse the Hour was all that.
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