Music Theater · Los Angeles · 2013
A cassette symphony in the tradition of Krapp's Last Tape. From jail cell to Space Shuttle, the mystery that emerges is not whether Lisa did it — it’s whether a crime can cease to be a crime, or can just cease to be.
About the work
Inspired by astronaut Lisa Nowak’s 2007 arrest for the attempted murder of a romantic rival, Starcrosser’s Cut is loosely based on the real-life transcript of Nowak’s police interview after her arrest. A character known only as “Lisa” listens to the playback, reenacts her interview with the detective, and attempts to rerecord it all.
Through a labyrinth of tape edits and revisions within revisions, the play looks at the “crimes that can’t keep uncommitted” — those beyond guilt. From jail cell to Space Shuttle, the mystery that emerges is not whether Lisa did it — it’s whether a crime can cease to be a crime, or can just cease to be.
The work makes frequent reference to the constellation Cassiopeia — placed in the sky as punishment, forced to wheel around the North Celestial Pole on her throne. The throne/space shuttle analogy plays out to poetic effect, with images of the constellation projected onto the stage and actors.
“One could well perceive this as a contemporary classical chamber oratorio, for amplified voices, tape and a piquant ensemble of accordion, flute, viola and electric guitar. To open ears, the advanced tonalities harmonize euphoniously, if with a free-ranging dread.”
“The musical composition by David Dominique never merely backs or underscores the action but instead comprises an integral component of the overall expression, just as Joseph Tepperman’s complicated sound design constitutes every bit as significant a part of the text as his words.”
The Hollywood Reporter · Myron Meisel · June 2013
Son of Semele Theater, Los Angeles · June 2013
Video
Five-minute excerpt · 2013
Credits
Adjacent works