Audience Participation
Copies of the book are available to buy through Fanfare Books, and the Stratford Public Library has acquired 20 copies for borrowing.
The short stories being used in Book Club are so evocative that we would like to give our audience the chance to contribute ideas for the music to be performed. The key passages in the book for which we are seeking input are listed below. Use our Contact form to suggest music for one or two, or all of these moments. The Factory Arts Ensemble will try our best to arrange for some of the suggestions to be used, while mixing in some of our own ideas.
There will be something for everyone to enjoy in this evening regardless of the level of preparation or contribution. Those who haven't read the stories in advance will still have plenty to enjoy - a unique soundtrack to accompany two wonderful short stories written by one of Canada's most distinctive voices.
The Gypsy and the Bear
page 4 "The musical phrase did cartwheels across the square like a tiny Russian gymnast."
page 5 "The Gypsy continued to play his violin in a strange way as the bear performed ...
There was a repertoire in his mind, although he didn't know how it had come to be there."
page 5 "There was another that would make you fall head over heels in love with him."
page 6 "He had a melody that made you feel as if life was so short that there was no point in holding on
to anything."
page 15 "It sort of sounded like a little girl crying for her mother... It sounded like a cat in heat."
page 17 "... she began to play a concerto by Mendelssohn."
N.B. Andrew says you choose which concerto, which movement and approximately from where!
Bartok for Children
page 283 "He played a Bartók tune that he had learned in school... The tune was so delightful and bouncy..."
page 284 "... a cricket inside that started to play a sorrowful tune, using its wee legs like a fiddle."
page 288 Another sad tune played by the cricket
page 294 "The wee violin tune might fill his head with all sorts of emotions that he didn't want to have."
page 298 "...the cricket started playing the most depressing and creepy Bartok tune."