Theatrimusicality and Politics: Assemblies at the ‘And’ of History
摘要
This chapter advances a politics of ‘And’—a non-binarising conjunction that composes spaces of relation and exchange—through close analyses of two performances where sound and staging, musicality and theatricality advance political provocations. Advertised as a ‘lecture-performance’, Ming Wong’s Rhapsody in Yellow theatrimusicalises US–China entanglements in the era of ‘ping-pong’ politics. Performed as a concerto for two pianos, Wong uses the history and politics of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Xian Xinghai’s Yellow River Cantata to articulate the evolving political relations between both superpowers. Interweaving archival film, live narration and piano recital, and exploiting proxemic relations while composing a new hybrid composition that fuses Rhapsody in Blue with Yellow River Concerto, the work renders concepts of convergence and dissonance, harmony and disharmony as geopolitical figurations. The second work considered, Jason Wee’s Quora Fora: A Rehearsal, advances perspectives on spectaurality as integral to the interrogation of the ontology of an assembly or a demos. Quora Fora’s theatrimusical interplay of choral singing, haiku libretto, textile architectures and minimalist movement become a performative statement about the conditions of authoritarianism in Southeast (and East) Asia. Spectauralising Quora Fora engenders demands on a reflection and reimagination about the concept of ‘We’—as individual and collective, civic and politicised bodies. In both works, theatrimusicality becomes the dramaturgical method to perform a politics of ‘And’ and spectaurality situates audiences between listening and looking, spectatorship and participation.