The premise of the play – “Words, words, words” by David Ives – is based on an oft-posed presupposition of probability and infinity .
We’ve all heard it, but it bears repeating: if an infinite number of monkeys pound away on an infinite number of typewriters they will eventually reproduce all the great works. Shakespeare is typically touted as the literary target the simians are working toward.
The play itself consists of the discourse between three monkeys charged with this probable and unlikely task.
Note: A fundamental concept I learned in the probability class I took in college is that an occurrence could have a probability of zero (when the fraction is rounded) but it still has the mathematical possibility of occurring. The rationale “It can happen – you’ll never see it occur – but it technically could” was always an interesting one. It also made for an easy quizzes. Though I’ve typically hated math courses, I enjoyed dealing with hypothetical figures and forms because it’s a lot harder to get the answers wrong. (“You think my model of infinity is wrong? Have you seen infinity? That’s what I thought…”)
Leaving the numbers behind, a more important matter faces my sister. That’s casting… and putting together a crew… and designing the set pieces… and putting together props… and getting costumes together… and running practices… But somewhere in there comes the question of music.
She needs some sort of accompaniment to lead into her play and then play out. This acoustic buffer gives the actors and tech crew the space to put things onstage or pull them off. The notes also are the first and last opportunity the director has to shape the audience’s perception of the play. The right choice can heighten the impact of the performance.
A play about a person lost in their imagination could lead in with “What a Day for a Daydream” or “Dude Looks like a Lady” could be good closer for a play about swapped gender identities. It all depends on the tone (do you wish to have a discordant final note, an ironic contrast, a summarizing symphony).
My sister’s play is fairly straightforward with no unexpected suicides or violent, bloody deaths or interpretive dancing (like other plays I’ve watched up in Truman) so the music doesn’t have to explain to the audience what they just saw (“You mean the best friend was the psycho axe murderer? I thought it was the creepy neighbor who was always harassing the girl. No wonder they ended with ‘I get by with a Little Help from My Friends.’”).
Nope, my sister’s play is about three monkeys aiming for Shakespeare. No sinister twists there.
So the question, repeated once again, is what music should one play to lead in and out?
Personally, I would be tempted to start with a short comic routine by Bob Newhart. He has a brief bit about the guy who has to routinely check the typewriters to see if any Shakespeare has popped out yet. It reintroduces the scenario and doesn’t repeat any of the jokes made in the play, though I might worry that it would steal some of the general thunder.
The other idea that came to my mind would be “We are Monkeys” by Travis. I think it would work well at either the end or the beginning. It has a nice blend of animal calls mixed with modern references that properly address both the wild and urban jungles.
In addition, I did a general search for “monkey” on my computer to see what other clips I personally had. It included the theme to Monkey Ninjas, “The Monkey Song by the Animaniacs, Disney songs like “The Monkey’s Uncle” and “I Wanna Be Like You (The Monkey Song)” as well as a handful of misspelled Monkee classics.
I briefly pondered a generic “sounds of the rainforest” mix, though it wouldn’t properly address the civilized, sterilized lab the monkeys are in and, in my experience, those tapes are largely birdcall heavy. Of course, I’d feel sorry for the sound engineer charged with getting the microphones near a troop of monkeys. That has “bad, smelly day” written all over it.
So now that you’ve heard my thoughts, I wonder what other musical motifs might be mentioned and mulled. Does anyone else out there have any ideas of how to convey madcap monkey madness? What soundtrack cuts would you suggest? Let me, or my sister, know.
Thanks
