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The Tower of
Gilgamesh
In principle this is a play for actors who may be dancers, but in practice it may as well be
staged by actors alone. It would be a fine
thing if musicians playing derabucca drums or Indian cymbals, and a
flute or recorder, could be sitting on the stage throughout the
performance; but music may be otherwise provided, electronically if
necessary, as long as the apparatus is not concealed. In a full-scale
theatrical production, each of the four choruses (Widows, Troopers, Traders, and Optimates) would consist of three or more persons; but in any
theater they
must equal each other in the number of at least two each.
PERSONS AND MASKS
Lil-Amin, queen of Uruk, priestess of
Inanna
College of Widows, hierodules of the Temple
The Rector of the Temple, priest of Inanna,
formerly governor of Uruk
Optimates, a council of ephors representing
the people
Gilgamesh [Giszax], king-errant of Erech [Uruk]
Norkid, captain of his Kassite guard
Troopers, Kassite bowmen of the guard
Eber, Gilgamesh’s vizier and patriarch of nomads
Traders, sons of Eber, nomadic merchants
Engidu [Enkidu], a wild man from the steppes
Design criteria:
Ad lib: any style from extreme simplicity of set and costume (freely
anachronistic, with never more than hints of historical verisimilitude)
to sparely ornamented expression of cultural contrast—as long as it is
consonant with the idea that this is a play about dancers, not opera
singers. (The basic dress may be leotards of solid colors that each
characterize one of the four choruses.) Individual masks may be simply
or elaborately distinctive.
See the Prologue and Production notes (link above) for the
historical context of the play.
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