BLIND IN TIME
Using the specific time span of 1961-1963 as a backdrop, Blind in Time intermixed past with present, and fact with fiction. Historical events—John Kennedy’s inauguration, the beginning of the Vietnam War, the construction of the Berlin Wall, and the 15-minute space ride of Alan Shepherd—are interwoven with Mussmann’s recollections of listening to the radio in her schoolroom in Indiana.
Bruce acted as the translator of these recollections and weaved the stories together while Mussmann simultaneously directed and manipulated projections and live film/video elements.
2001
La Mama ETC, NYC
TSL WareHouse, Hudson, NY
Written and Directed Linda Mussmannin collaboration with Claudia BruceSet Design by Jun Maedawith assistance from Phillip Shepherd“I’m in love with time.
I’m lost in space.”
Ray Mark Rinaldi, The New York Times:
“Blind in Time (the title refers to a statement by Gandhi that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind) traces America’s history over the last 40 years, linking ‘remembrance points’… The timeline follows the country as it goes from what Dwight Eisenhower described as a culture of tinkerers and basement inventors to a society of multinational corporations and high-tech entrepreneurs.
…
The story of her own political and sexual awakening in tiny Lowell, Indiana, is woven into the piece, offering personal testimony about how big-business culture can pressure individuals to follow the rules while leaving behind those who cannot.”
“Underscoring the words is Time & Space’s trademark visual display. As Bruce, the sole actor, says her lines and sings original songs on the piano, her barely visible co-performer, Mussmann, works the controls on three video projectors, five television monitors, and two live cameras. The play makes its points by juxtaposing projected images of confident historical figures — a gaining Nikita Khrushchev, a heroic Alan Shepard — against oral tales of the author’s efforts to find her own nonconformist way. Despite the mostly cheerful projections, there is a sense that all is not well with the world.”
Linda Mussmann, quoted in The New York Times:
“You spend your whole life reflecting, whether you think you’re reflecting or not. The things you remember haunt you forever.”
“This is about my own journey. I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no place to go without a fight.”
