Lucia Joyce | Musical Excerpts
from a READING Recorded 1.17.23 at the Blue Gallery, Manhattan
Featuring:
Brandie Sutton
Laurent Naouri
Justin Austin
Jonathan Kelly
Diego Canticon
Jonathan Kelly
Christopher Tordinin
Satoshi Takeishi
1. Act One. Scene One. TO MAKE THE WORLD ANEW (LUCIA ARIA)
Square Robiac. Both the sitting room and JAMES’ study are visible to the audience.
JAMES wants LUCIA to help him with his writing, but LUCIA wants to focus on her dancing.
LUCIA
I must dance!
To make the world anew
I must break free of all my fetters
Rid myself of all these words, these letters
And through my movement forge an art for the coming age!
A radical new dance
that will free us from the past
To make a new art that will always last
Just like you, Father
Father I will make you so proud
Doing with my body what you’ve done with your pen
You will love me then, Father
You will love me then.
An art that’s never before been made
You and I, in the burning furnace of our souls
will create
The unbirthed conscience of our race
Your words, my dance Oh Father,
We will move as one
Into the new age of art!
2. Act One. Scene One. LUCIA ITS TRUE— YOU’RE A SEER TOO (DUET)
(follows from ARIA)
LUCIA
Let Giorgio help you, just for a time
JAMES
Giorgio?
He must not be distracted
I don’t care what they say
He’ll be a great singer one day.
LUCIA
Doubtful! He’s unambitious.
Father I pray—
At least until the Bal Bullier.
JAMES
The Bal Bullier?
LUCIA
Yes. It’s the dance competition I’m in.
JAMES
Right! I remember
LUCIA
I really think I can win!
JAMES
Ah yes; oh no
I couldn’t let you go.
LUCIA
You must give me this chance.
JAMES
I cannot lose you
Lucia it’s true
you’re a seer too
a great mind
But I need you I’m nearly blind.
LUCIA
It’s true! It’s true!
A great mind.
JAMES
But I need you I’m nearly blind.
The world is waiting for me
I can’t be waiting for you.
LUCIA
But Father!
Is your book more important than I am
To you? (DUET Da Capo)
BOTH The world is waiting for me I can’t be waiting for you.
JAMES
You’re my daughter
that is enough.
You need more?
LUCIA
Of course I do!
Wouldn’t you?
You left Ireland to become a writer;
I must leave this study
To become a dancer!
JAMES
But unlike you
Cara bambina mia
I am the greatest literary mind
Of this century.
LUCIA
C’est moi l’artiste!
LUCIA walks out in a huff, slamming the door.
Lucia
James
Giorgio
Beckett
Saxophone
Piano
Bass
Percussion
3. Act One. Scene Three SEE THE SILVER SPACE BETWEEN THEM (QUARTET)
Friends of GIORGIO have come over, including BECKETT, who runs smack into LUCIA.
JAMES pulls LUCIA inside his study. GIORGIO takes BECKETT by the arm and leads him away from LUCIA, into a chair, putting a drink in his hand.
Simultaneously JAMES takes LUCIA by the arm and leads her into his study.
[Simultaneous action in both rooms]
BECKETT his eyes following JAMES and LUCIA
See the silver space between them
Shimmer and shrink
Under his gaze
See him reel her in.
LUCIA to JAMES
It’s true
He does remind me of you.
JAMES
Not to me.
He’s sad.
He’s a sad lad.
Not at all like me.
BECKETT
Your sister is mysterious
a beauty.
GIORGIO
Not to me.
She’s mad.
Mad like Dad.
BECKETT
A sister is never attractive to her brother.
GIORGIO (ominous)
Well —
we used to be uncommonly close But she drifts now
unhinged
no longer what she once was.
BECKETT aside
Father and daughter
An odd bond
queer nearness
Getting close to her
Would bring me closer to him I see.
In the study, JAMES puts his arm around LUCIA’S neck again
JAMES
He’s not at all like me.
LUCIA
Let me be!
LUCIA frees herself, pushes JAMES out of the door, and starts dancing with concentration, purpose - and desperation.
JAMES grabs a glass and gulps down a drink.