The ladder to the moon / by Dick Higgins.

Barton, Vermont : Unpublished Editions, 1973.

ix, 117 pages ; 21 cm

BEIN 2018 12268: Paperbound.

The Ladder to the Moon (1959-65) is Dick Higgins's largest and most ambitious lyric theater construction, using elements of Happenings, in which he was engaged at the time, Fluxus events, time scores more usual in music than in the theater, films and mixed media of sorts which were later used less concentratedly in light shows and psychedelic affairs. The heavy overlay of simultaneous events, particularly in the Tiger Lady episode, allows for extraordinarily vivid caricatures and an emotional impact far beyond the limitations of the more usual psychological theater. And yet it is with psychology that this work is ultimately concerned. It attempts a sort of non-Aristotelian catharsis in the general tradition of melodrama rather than the literary probings and meanderings to which we are accustomed. Even aspects of various oriental theater traditions are evoked. Ultimately it is onlthe spectator who can decide for himself which constitutes the greater psychological reality - overt literary probing or lyrical caricature.

English

September 01, 2023

United States Vermont Barton.