For the night

As dusk falls, four people gather around the table of one who is dying. At first, they appear as disembodied voices, as if in a piece of music. They modulate their cadences, they follow rhythmic patterns, they form a chorus. But from these abstract sounds, motifs begin to emerge; the speakers become characters, and a story develops. These oscillations between abstract sound and concrete, substantive meaning define this play, which listens to find the big themes of loss and death in the minutest modulations, in fleeting encounters, in casual remarks. Every character is confronted with differing forms of loss; and while they may be far from providing support for each other, in the course of their meeting, their different points of view come together into a one meaningful whole. It seems almost inevitable that this nocturne should end in death.