For stereo recording and solo speaking voice. This is the English language adaptation to the original piece, Telenovela (2000), 12′.
This work is structured identically as was its predecessor, Telenovela (soap opera) made with Brazilian speaking voices (and recorded on a cheap cassette recorder in Martha Herr’s kitchen in São Paulo). In this case the speaking voices were recorded in a recording studio. This work consists of thirteen short segments, grouped into four groups of three sections + one final one. They are presented as ‘episodes’ in that they should be viewed as a daily or weekly soap opera. The source material is of two short conversations, either of which would fit easily in a broadcast.
This work appears to celebrate contemporary French philosophers’ interest in the notion of deconstruction. In fact, the work has another deconstructive French influence, the group of experimental writers known as Oulipo.
The piece is best performed in between other ones, so that people can look forward to the next ‘episode’.
Voices: Kerri Beech, Martha Herr, Andrew Hugill, Evelyn Jamieson, Leigh Landy (live performance role), Madeline Penny, Ildikó Rippel, Simone Santos and Tiernen Welch.
The recordings below appeared on the CD Sonic Voyages: MTI De Montfort University (UH Recordings 020011006).
Sections I-III, Episode 1
Sections IV-VI, Episode 2
Sections VII-IX, Episode 3
Sections X-XII, Episode 4
Section XIII, Episode 5