God & the City
If I were a city-God or a city-ringmaster or simply a have-it-my-way entertainer, what would I plan for people looking for fun? Maybe
SUNDAY
Puppet-show
The best death scenes by puppets
MONDAY
Play
A modern day Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The main character can be a girl who goes to college in the day time. She walks down Gerrard Street and Dundas to reach Ryerson. Her furry wuzzy hoodie is on and she takes quick steps in her flat-sole boots, attends college and returns to pizza and tv. Each day at 10 p.m she decides to finish emergency homework, due the next day. But sometimes, at night, she undergoes a change and is suddenly not scared to step out. This time her hoodie is pulled way down over her face to hide the madness in her eyes. This madness would finally erupt somewhere else that night - in the park, near a dumpster or in front of a closed shop shutter. She walks into night parties and nocturnal bars sometimes. She crosses the crack addicts and prostitutes showing off butt cheeks. The next morning, you read the newspaper and see - Here I send the newspaper boys out in the audience. Young boys with berets. They hand out newspapers fast and quick. You read the headline. You see what happened last night and you can understand what that girl on stage is. That college-girl blinking innocently is a MONNSSTAARRRHH..Ahh.. what a lovely time I will spend imagining the worst she could do - the ultimate act of gore - a hideous sin.
TUESDAY
History House - 3 D exhibition
The next place for people to visit would be a house where history whispers. The house would have many many doors so that there is no pathway to follow. There should be anywhere you could go. So many things to stumble upon. Let me tell you the history of the house. A family lived here. But they moved out this morning - suddenly. Maybe you, the Best Invetigator this town has, could look around and tell me why they left without paying the gas bill. The family had a mom, dad, young daughter and a baby. A grandma lived there too - she was adopted. They had a dog that lived in its kennel. You go to the baby's room and you find technical drawings among plastic ponies. Technical drawings OF plastic ponies. The dangler over the crib is rockets and motherboards. There is a map that shows the way to an escape tunnel that leads to France. In the daughter's room you see an open window from which a knotted drape hangs to the ground outside. There are so many clues I could plant for a weird family with a closet drinker and a fairytale bedroom. It could be good or bad or whatever. And the people who come in could do more than look around. They could participate somehow. Lets see.
WEDNESDAY
I Cannot - interactive
Then I would have a place for 'This I simply cannot Do'. In this place I take 10 people into a room at one go. They are the front row. Everyone takes an oath to the effect of - " I am a good doctor/engineer/student but there is something I simply cannot do and that something is exactly what I will do now." And then having admitted that you suck, a person could sing or dance or play the piano the best they can. The other 9 can jeer of course. I could give them all kinds of options for doing things and have the props ready as well.
THURSDAY
Movie-performance
A re-enactment of famous movie scenes like the one where Dustin Hoffman asks "Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson ?" There will be a screen to show the movie playing in the background. In the foreground, people will be sitting on stools with prepared scripts. As the movie plays, the sound will be off and the people on stools will fill in the audio with very different original dialogues. It could end with people from the audience trying this out.
FRIDAY
Chatroom - Interactive
What about 10 people sitting on chairs and a screen in front of them displaying live chat. Everyone's hands can be under on a table, the top of which is not visible to other people - imagine a table top that like the inside of a box without a lid. Then everyone could chat and see whats onscreen and not know who is typing what. Revealing your identity finally is optional.
SATURDAY
Art exhibition
I think this would work in any city. A pavement art exhibition with each canvas/ art work up on an easel along the pavement. The topic of the exhibition should be The people of THAT city - Toronto / Delhi / Mumbai.
NEXTDAY
Exhibition
A modelling and Sculpture exhibition of hungry Gods - gods from all over the world, from ancient times and now. Each of them is hungry. One is salivating for the pizza slice placed 1 foot away from his mouth. He is chained. The other God has a fork and knife and is working through a buffet - from the head of the table down. Another God is stuffing mini-villains down his throat. Yet another one is daintily undoing a toffee wrapper. The gods are made of plastic, coke-pepsi cans, clay, playing dough, Plaster of Paris, wires, paper, thermocol, bricks..whatever.
ONEDAY
Movie
Couch movie night. There would be a counter to sell fries and pepsi. Big red couches all over. Some of them reserved. Others to be shared by strangers. And 3 or 4 TV screens playing a movie. At leat 15 couches.
SOMEDAY
Sleep- Interactive
Sleep in the park at night event. I would organise security and all. Usually people pack away inside their houses for the night. For this night they could be happy, fearless people on earth. They could rent the bedding that I and my team would rent out or they could bring their own.
Dress code mandatory - Pajamas. There would be 3 or 4 refridgerators over the park for a night raid. After a bonfire and singing at night everyone could go to bed anywhere in the park and go to SLEEP. In the morning you can leave.
LUNDAY
Performance
A clash of genres. Maybe the Hindi movie Sholay enacted Sin City style which means a lot of dramatic lighting and all characters in black and white. No sets. There would be a large screen behind the actors in which graphic art shows the setting for the scene. The projection is not from behind the audience but arranged in such a way that the actors dont block it. I know its possible with some special overhead projection or something. So there could be graphic art Ramgarh hills and a jolting, bumping ride for Basanti as she escapes the lustful villains.
MEWSDAY
Dance
Medley of dance- Good Stuff. I dont care if its traditional - A kickass dance performance is always good if its racy and full of sexy body moves.
URSDAY
Exhibition- Space
Mighty lego. A large city made of lego where the buildings are chest high and the tallest trees reach your knees. You can walk through the city, stand at a bus stop, buy mini pizza and flirt with mini girls who yell back at you in MIGHTY voices!
(Somebody's huge effort. Original pic on http://members.cox.net/bhamilto1/city1.htm)
DRYDAY
Interactive
The confession box. You can go there and confess to crimes you may or may not have committed, may or may not have contemplated. You will be heavily chided, foully cursed by the holy priest perhaps and finally get to do something that will absolve you of the guilt. This may include taking a gunshot at the door of temptation or walking under a heavy shower of pure-water in a shamefully unfashionable raincoat or go over to the other confessor and tell him 'I am a disgraceful dog who doesnt deserve to live with a cookie jar'.
BLUEDAY
Art Exhibition
Not for people who spout high falutin blah blah at art exhibitions. An art exhibition where you can walk only in one direction. There are paintings and words between paintings. It flows. It takes you from frescoes to impressionism to surrealism to graphic art. There is no long sentence anywhere and no long words. It says that - ``Impressionism was not about reality. The artist tried to create an impression of what he saw by splashing the canvas with thick paint strokes. Details unimportant.`` Then it goes on to surrealism where its written that even impressions of reality became unimportant and the artist drew his thoughts - twisted or unreal or slow thoughts - whatever and there is a poster of Salvador Dali`s Persistance of Memory.
And eventually we reach Dadaism where the artist just got bored of too much thought being put into art. He became fed up of art being the premise of masters and gurus. He decided to make it a fast job that had solid or shocking impact. Like a knife plunged into a painting or a painted shit pot. And then came Andy Warhol who did not look too far for art. He picked up his clothes iorn and said that it was art of the modern age. The exhibition would show the flow of thought in art and show where all the famous picassos and michaelangelo art works and the madness of van gogh fit in.
DAYDAY
Barber Shop-Interactive
You go in. You are strapped to a chair. Strapped tight. And then the chair revolves so that your feet are up and your head is down and then back up again. Lots of people come to you. They spray water on you and have a heated argument about what hairstyle would suit you the best. They ask you to wait while a jhatka matka Bollywood song plays on the mini TV near you. You are left strapped for the next two days without water or food or bathroom visits. Heeyahaha..
Maybe its just me. And maybe no one has read this blog post so far. Well, as if you have any ideas of your own... Ha ha..Blogs. What a selfish pursuit in literature. Bwahahahahahaaaa.................
Maybe somebody could use these ideas for a college festival. Just let me know if you do, for the joy of it!