(l-r) David Cossin, Todd Renyolds,
Theo Blackmann, and Phil Kline of Zippo Songs
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Salt Theater's
Zippo Songs Illuminates another chapter into Vietnam
by David Chiu
From the horror and insanity of war often
comes out poignant moments that speak volumes of the human condition
and the triumph of the spirit. Not only they can be found in
victories fought, stories of rescue and survival, and letters
to home, but they can also be found in the most unlikeliest of
places--Zippo lighters. That fact had recently been the focus
of a musical piece called Zippo Songs, conceived by Phil
Kline and recently shown by the Salt Theater at HERE.
During the Vietnam War, it was common for
GIs to inscribe poems on their Zippo lighters. Their words captured
the range of emotions of what they were feeling during their
tour of duty. These poems border on a sense of paranoia and rage
("Been to Hell," "My Dead Ass") to the feeling
of numb detachment and isolation ("We Came Because,"
"Ours Is Not") to finally poignancy ("Away From
You"). Remarkably Kline set the soldiers' words from the
lighters to music, as well as putting music to recent speeches
by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. It's eerie to read and
listen to Rumsfeld's words (i.e. "That Many Vases")
which typifies the clueless, politico-double speak indicative
of a man behind the military industrial complex.
With three other musicians--vocalist Theo
Bleckmann, percussionist David Cossin, violinist Todd Reynolds--bassist
Kline performed the song cycle in against a painted camouflage
backdrop and surrounded many miles of wires in a stark stage
set up. The ambient instrumental dirges evoke the ambiguity of
war--the music may have sounded serene and ethereal thanks to
Cossin's cheery xylophone playing and Reynolds' graceful violin,
but it also conveyed that a hum of impending doom and death.
Kline's reverberating rhythm lines added to the music's urgent
drama. Bleckmann's voice provided a cold, calculating chill of
someone being unnerved and unraveled by what's going around him.
The work was so somber that except for a chuckle during Rumsfeld's
"That Many Vases" there was no audience response until
the end of the final poem "The Funeral of Jan Palach."
Given the recent events of the Iraqi war,
the moral themes brought out by the song cycle are still with
us today. The scar of the Vietnam War and conflict in general
will forever be inscribed and memorialized on a small yet common
survival tool. It provides the inspiration of this haunting yet
gratifying musical work.
An Eclectic Brand of
Theater: An Interview with the Salt's Emma Griffin
Salt Theater is a non for profit organization
founded in 2000 devoted to presenting an eclectic variety of
theatrical work: the classics, avant garde and whatever seems
interesting. With theater artists working behind the scenes while
maintaining their freelance careers, the theater has staged works
like Inky, The Cherry Orchard, Stage Door,
and the recent Zippo Songs. Up next for the Salt Theater
is a production of Charles Ludlam's Conquest of the Universe,
and the group is negotiating to adapting Ingmar Bergman's classic
Scenes from a Marriage for the stage. In 2002 the Salt
received a prestigious OBIE grant from the Village Voice for
recognition of their work.
NewBeats spoke to the Salt Theater's artistic
director Emma Griffin about the recent Zippo Songs and
the mission of the organization.
You heard of Phil Kline through a CD
that your sound designer Noah Scalin passed on to you. What did
you think of his music at first and how did you eventually work
with him?
I completely fell in love with it. I thought
it was compelling, strange, and very mysterious. A couple of
months after that, [Phil Kline] called me up and said 'There's
this commissioning grant that I need to apply for, would you
be interested in doing something with me?' I've got this project
kicking around for a couple of years and I hadn't done anything.
It's about these Zippo lighters and I would love to do this song
cycle.' I said 'Sure.' We applied for the grant and that's how
the project got started. It's been really great.
Did the recent events in the news was
what brought on Zippo Songs?
Phil had this idea for years. Our installation
of this project predates 9/11. It's hard not to be affected.
It's quite fascinating to learn about
Zippo lighters in this context of representing the thoughts of
soldiers during the war.
It was pretty much a phenomenon in the
Vietnam War. [Zippo lighters] became such symbols of the war--there
were so many images of guys with Zippo lighters. It became this
thing to have these very oblique poems etched on them. Some of
them are deeply bizarre. If you think about it, these are a bunch
of 18-year-olds from Iowa coming into the Vietnam War and they're
putting text on their Zippo lighters as an expression of who
they were and what they were doing there.
Has mounting this production enjoyable
being this was the Salt's initial foray into music entirely?
Musicians and live music are deeply satisfying,
so I would say that's also been one of the real pleasures of
the piece for us.
What is the Salt's modus operundi? What
goes into choosing a work to produce?
We pick up things that are interesting
to us as artists, which is a delightful way to work. Each show
from conception to closing night takes about a year-readings,
workshops, rehearsals, and production. This is the stuff that's
near and dear to our hearts.
If you could define our tastes that's what
sets us apart, that and our commitment to the long-term process.
We tailor our process to the project, not the other way around.
We are built very similarly to a dance company. That's how we
work.
What is challenge of running a small
theater company?
Quite honestly we want to be paying our
people more money. We want to be supporting our artists in a
more concrete fashion.
Despite the usual obstacles in putting
together a production, is it still gratifying?
There are moments when you want to put
your head in a wall and then there are moments that are fantastic.
Doing theater is a drug, the highs are high and the lows are
low. And you get addicted to the ride.
http://www.saltheater.com
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