Theme and Variations

Abstract

On the stage is a table with a folding chair behind it. On the table are a bottle of wine, a wine glass, a bell, a hammer, a book, chalk and a small blackboard propped up so that the spectators can see it. The long booms of three microphones angle down over the table.Between the audience and the stage, three television monitors rest high on a board stretching between two ladders. The spectators may easily watch the television sets and any activity at the table at the same time. Close to the television sets, in the center of the hall, is a television camera aimed at the stage. Below it, technicians sit at video tape recorders.A man—Robert Israel, who conceived the piece—enters the stage. He picks up the hammer; his image appears on the first television screen.