786
edits
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
Line 24: | Line 24: | ||
== Synopsis == | == Synopsis == | ||
Joe and 6-year-old boy (who, Joe presumes, but isn't sure, is his son; | |||
they've just met) find themselves lost in a deserted, run-down part of | |||
the city at dusk. Joe tries to hail a gypsy cab, but it crashes and | |||
has no one in it. Joe tries to make a call on a pay phone but has no | |||
change, recognizes his mother's voice on the recording (she works for | |||
the phone company, in the recording department); he tries to get the | |||
operator to connect him with his mother, but the operator can't find | |||
her. Joe breaks the receiver in anger, can't answer when it rings. | |||
They are stuck in the booth as darkness and winter cold set | |||
in.<ref>Joe re-used the story, with alterations, and in the third | |||
person, in [[Fat Man Down]].</ref> | |||
8:30: Joe tells us and god how happy he is. | |||
10:00: Joe tells us why and how he hates Ceil (short for Cecilia), | |||
apparently his wife, the terrible things he wishes for her. | |||
14:30 Joe, in a distorted voice, tells us about a wonderful a | |||
place, apparently a Caribbean island. | |||
16:50: Joe (voicing a fictional character) tells of a mysterious woman | |||
coming for an interview late one night in his office. She's | |||
beautiful, leaves behind a box, at first against Joe's objections - | |||
but he wants to get rid of her. He calls security, who tell him they | |||
haven't seen anyone leave.<ref name=box>re-used in [[The Box]]</ref> | |||
28:30: Joe talk-sings about mishaps in the office, interrupted with | |||
scat singing. He imagines embezzling bonds and escaping to the | |||
islands.<ref>Thus the show's name?</ref> | |||
30:30: Joe tells Ceil about a dream he had about a fight with her. | |||
35:40: The distorted voice tells us about unusual fishes. | |||
37:30: Joe returns to the story about the box. Joe looks in the | |||
cabinet in which she placed the box, finds it empty. He recounts all | |||
the bizarre experiences that have happened at work and to his | |||
colleagues. | |||
Joe goes to a bar, calls an old friend in the foreign service in | |||
Denmark. He tells Joe to get his blood tested and burn his tie (the | |||
mysterious woman had asked for it), acts as though the incident is | |||
important, not crazy.<ref name=box /> | |||
44:30: More of why Joe hates Ceil, more bad wishes for her. | |||
49:00: Joe prays to God to be forgiven for everything wrong he | |||
has done. | |||
51:10: Joe defends himself and his administration - he seems to be a | |||
dictator in a police state. He tells us what a good cook he | |||
is.<ref>re-used in [[Live At Market Street]]</ref> | |||
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%; overflow:auto;"> | |||
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Legacy Synopsis</div> | |||
<div class="mw-collapsible-content"> | |||
Joe is in a strange part of town at dusk with a child and tries to call his mother from a phone booth. Reading a motivational prayer in an agitated voice. Second person criticism of someone named Ceel. A distorted voice describes an island scene. A mysterious woman visits Joe's office late at night and asks him to keep a box. Paranoid business questions set to rhythmic background. Canvas fish that resemble works of art. | Joe is in a strange part of town at dusk with a child and tries to call his mother from a phone booth. Reading a motivational prayer in an agitated voice. Second person criticism of someone named Ceel. A distorted voice describes an island scene. A mysterious woman visits Joe's office late at night and asks him to keep a box. Paranoid business questions set to rhythmic background. Canvas fish that resemble works of art. | ||
</div></div> | |||
== Music == | == Music == | ||
Line 33: | Line 90: | ||
== Shared material == | == Shared material == | ||
*[[The Box]] | *[[The Box]] | ||
*[[Fat Man Down]] | |||
*[[Live At Market Street]] | |||
== Additional credits == | == Additional credits == | ||
The original broadcast credits state: "Recorded by [[Bob Carlson]] and Ariana Morgenstern, and mixed by Jeff Sykes. Islands was created in cooperation with [[Arthur Miller]] and [[David Rapkin]]." | The original broadcast credits state: "Recorded by [[Bob Carlson]] and Ariana Morgenstern, and mixed by Jeff Sykes. Islands was created in cooperation with [[Arthur Miller]] and [[David Rapkin]]." | ||
Credits from the NPR Playhouse release: 'You have been listening to | |||
Joe Frank [[Work In Progress]]. This program was called [[Islands]], | |||
recorded by [[Bob Carlson]] and Ariana Morgenstern, and mixed by Jeff | |||
Sykes. [[Islands]] was created in collaboration with [[Arthur Miller]] | |||
and [[David Rapkin]], and was made possible through a grant from the | |||
Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the | |||
Arts. Support for the national distribution of Joe Frank Work in | |||
Progress is provided by National Public Radio member stations and the | |||
NPR arts & performance fund. Contributors include the National | |||
Endowment for the Arts and the John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur | |||
Foundation.' | |||
== External links == | == External links == | ||
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIhZuc6gYkM Islands] (YouTube) | * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIhZuc6gYkM Islands] (YouTube) | ||
== Footnotes== | |||
[[Category:Absurd_Monologue]] | [[Category:Absurd_Monologue]] | ||
[[Category:1988]] | [[Category:1988]] |