The Sound of a Voice

THE SOUND OF A VOICE

Libretto by David Henry Hwang
Music by Philip Glass

Based on Hwang’s play of the same name, The Sound of a Voice explores intimacy between people who have lived in seclusion. In the first part, an aging Japanese warrior arrives at the home of a mysterious woman who lives like a hermit deep in the woods. Has he come as her suitor, or her assassin? In the second part, an elderly Japanese writer visits a mysterious brothel, which caters to men near the end of their lives by providing them with a means to relive their youth.

The Sound of a Voice premiered in 2003 at Boston’s American Repertory Theatre, directed by Robert Woodruff, produced in association with the Court Theatre in Chicago.

The Sound of a Voice part 1: Herbert Perry and Suzan Hanson. Photo by Richard Feldman for the American Repertory Theatre, 2003

The Sound of a Voice part 1: Herbert Perry and Suzan Hanson. Photo by Richard Feldman for the American Repertory Theatre, 2003

The Sound of a Voice part 1: Herbert Perry and Suzan Hanson. Photo by Richard Feldman for the American Repertory Theatre, 2003

The Sound of a Voice part 1: Herbert Perry and Suzan Hanson. Photo by Richard Feldman for the American Repertory Theatre, 2003

The Sound of a Voice part 2: House of Dreams. Eugene Perry and Janice Felty. Photo by Richard Feldman for the American Repertory Theatre, 2003

The Sound of a Voice part 2: House of Dreams. Eugene Perry and Janice Felty. Photo by Richard Feldman for the American Repertory Theatre, 2003

The Sound of a Voice part 2: House of Dreams. Eugene Perry and Janice Felty. Photo by Richard Feldman for the American Repertory Theatre, 2003

1000 Airplanes on the Roof

1000 AIRPLANES ON THE ROOF

Text by David Henry Hwang
Created with Philip Glass & Jerome Sirlin

1000 Airplanes on the Roof is the story of “M.,” a New Yorker who is abducted by aliens, probed and questioned, then returned to Earth and told to forget the event. The ambiguity of M.’s experience – was it real or hallucinated? – is never fully resolved; it is a parable on contemporary’s man’s search for identity in a bewildering world. 

Originally presented in the Vienna Airport, Hanger #3 in 1988, directed by Philip Glass. Subsequent national and international tours, including an engagement at New York City’s Beacon Theatre, recreated the original production, including Jerome Sirlin’s holographic “visual libretto” projections.