The Nine Dreams (2020)

Instrumentation: guitar and electronics

Duration: 45 minutes

Text: Nick Flynn / William Blake

World Premiere: TBD

Synopsis:
At the dawn of the industrial revolution, William Blake (1757-1827) attempted an apocalyptic prophesy in the form of a nine-volume an epic titled Vala. Blake’s original text echoes our current historical moment with disturbing and electrifying specificity: brutality animates human relations; natural disasters of a biblical magnitude are a constant (“Behold! The time approaches fast / that thou shalt be as a thing forgotten / when one speaks of thee / he will not be believed”). Poet and playwright Nick Flynn has distilled Blake’s sprawling masterpiece into The Nine Dreams. The production of The Nine Dreams is directed by Meghan Finn and includes costumes by Suzanne Bocanegra, artwork by Mel Chin, Ashley Hinson, and Pedro Reyes; music by Guy Barash and Noveller; video by David Pym and Gabriel Martinez; costumes by Suzanne Bocanegra; and performances by Lili Taylor, Brenda Crawley, Sophia Michelle Aranda, and Drita Kabashi.