On the 13th of December, Meliton Shishkin had a thought, a bold, life-altering thought: I want to feel better. Not just better in the fleeting, shallow sense, but truly better. He wanted to know who he was and to understand his place in this violent, unstable world of ours.
The Pipe by Anton Checkov is a check-up on the landscape of the earth as well as the landscape of the soul – and for Chekhov, they are both in poor health. In our version, Meliton Shishkin, a guilt-ridden and anxious contemporary man, embarks on a transformative journey to confront his overwhelming eco-guilt and existential despair. Haunted by his own consumption and the weight of the planet’s unraveling, he seeks solace in a peculiar retreat program, promising a life-changing journey through hypnosis and lucid dreaming, an escape from drudgery into a world where he can finally find peace and his true destiny.
But what happens when hypnosis takes a dark turn? When the mind strays too far? Do we truly want to peel back the layers of our souls and gaze behind life’s “big curtain”?
Our opera happens in Meliton’s inner and outer worlds, and the production will take place simultaneously as a live performance and within a virtual environment. To bring Meliton’s inner world to life, we’ve chosen to use the same technology behind computer games and virtual reality experiences.
A huge thank you to the Arts Council an Chomhairle Ealaíon for funding the Development and Work in Progress performance.
For further information about this project please Contact Us.
