Elbow the Letter by Georgia Athens

CAST

Horizontal floor roller (HR)

Vertical Floor Roller (VR)

Guitar Player (GP)

Melodica player (MP)

Dancer 1 (D1)

Dancer 2 (D2)

Audience Watcher (AW)

Here is what the stage will look like to begin with:

When the audience watcher says "Go", VR and HR will begin rolling. Their job is the easiest: just keep rolling, trying not to hit anybody along your line. The VR moves only back and forth from stage left to stage right, and the HR moves only from upstage to downstage and back.

The movement of the floor rollers will divide the floor into four quadrants. The dancers must watch the floor rollers to keep track of where the quadrants are and which quadrant they are dancing in. The dancers must stay in separate quadrants. When the AW says "Go", the dancers begin dancing. D1 and D2 deliver lines in alternation.

D1 moves to a different quadrant when the AW says "D1". D1 delivers any one of his/her lines when the GP plays quickly. D1 delivers the first line; after the first line, do not deliver a line until after D2 delivers a line.

D2 changes quadrants when the melodica player plays slowly. D2 delivers a line when the AW says "D2". Do not deliver a line until after D1 has delivered a line.

The GP and MP begin playing when the AW says "Go".

The GP plays slowly in a major key to begin with. When D1 and D2 are in quadrants which are diagonal to each other, the GP plays quickly, and when they are adjacent, he/she plays slowly. The GP switches to a minor key, or back to a major key when the AW says "GP".

The MP begins by playing quickly. When the AW says "MP", the MP plays slowly, or goes back to playing quickly. The MP plays in a different register whenever a line is delivered.

The AW has six lines. These are: Go, D1, D2, GP, MP, and Stop. Go is delivered when five adjacent audience members can be seen to be quiet. D1 is delivered whenever an audience member switches his or her head from one side to the other. D2 is delivered whenever an audience member is seen to touch his or her face without speaking. GP is delivered whenever an audience member is seen to be making a vocal noise. MP is delivered whenever an audience member looks at another audience member for a period of several seconds. Stop is delivered once all other commands have been given when three adjacent audience members can be seen to be in approximately the same position (or any other time when the piece seems to have gone on long enough).