Doris Day can Fuck off

***All Doris Day info and blog posts have moved to www.ddfo.tv.  See you there***

Doris Day can Fuck off.
Written and performed by Greg McLaren

What would happen if I sang my request for a book of first class stamps?

I wanted to do a one man opera, and I wanted to set myself a challenge.  I was looking for new ways of creating narrative, and I was interested in artists that impose harsh conditions upon themselves.  So I thought that I would sing my way through a week, replacing all speech with song, no matter what, on the street, in meetings, on the phone, in court, up a tree, etc. but actually it went on for a lot longer than that, in a number of different cities.  The position I put myself i has lead to some very unusual material, and after the fact, I have tried to manipulate that in a way which reflects how I see the world, or rather, what I hear in it.  The result is a strangely moving journey, constantly evolving, from place to place, voice to voice, slipping from one reality to another.  It has an effect that I can’t quite explain.  There is music that seems to seep out from language, cut up recordings that reveal strange and beautiful maxims, humour of course, loud bits, quiet bits, and the thrill of an attempt.

When language and humanity were young, vocal communication was probably entirely melodic.  It’s thought that gesture originated from need, and speech from passion.  I contrast this primitive recognition of a voice in the throes of passion with the banality of our vocal interactions today.

This show was first performed at the May PILOT night at Stan’s Cafe.  Development continued at the Scratch Festival at BAC, then it was invited back to the midlands for further work at It Came From Pilot at the Warwick Arts Centre.  I did two showings in Edinburgh at the Forest Fringe and then prepared what is now a successful Arts Council England application.

COMING TO A CITY NEAR YOU

I will be developing the show over the next few months at residencies in four different cities with the support of a partner venue there.  They are:

BAC

Bristol Old Vic

Cambridge Junction

MACarts, Birmingham

There will soon be a dedicated website that will track my progress, carry recordings and information about where and when to see the show.

Context:

I’m drawing a line from early human communication, via opera and modern music to the streets of our lives.  By singing to people I force the street audience (the first audience) to place me outside of the normal, yet I do not exhibit signs of madness or drunkenness, there is no visible recording devices, neither do I appear disruptive or dangerous.  By denying the public an easy definition and reason for my behaviour they either get involved or become agitated and suspicious, even though what I sing is perfectly understandable as language.  I am not necessarily altering sentence structure, or dramatising speech, (although this does sometimes occur as I sense a rhyme), and yet it seems to be subversive.

(Don’t worry, neither Doris nor any effigy or representation of her comes to harm during the show.)