Table Talk
Soundtrack
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ACT I
ACT II
The New Salvation Army vs. The UNWHAT
TABLE TALK
a digital musical mystery
written & directed by
ROGER LIENKE
at
Tin Roof Theater
(behind The Red Cup)
Oklahoma City, OK
1998
The Synopsis
Set in a CyberWorld of digital consciousness, Table Talk is a two-act, musical tale of absurdity focusing on the darkly comic struggle of five men (Private Quarters, Corporal Punishment, Lieutenant DeWitt, Major Disaster, and General Admission) who confront absence, desire, gender-identity, envy and aggression in their efforts to release the human soul from the imprisonment of deadly denial.
Table Talk employs a minimalist visual scheme, the abstract setting of a talk show stage in cyberspace, and a second act setting of a single table in a sequestered environment (that may or may not be a mental institution). In this age of the impostor and the shadow, the intentions of chosen involvements take on an ominous tone. The organizing concept of Table Talk concerns the assignment placed on top of the table in contradistinction to the hidden agenda that lies beneath.
What begins as a mission of five men to recruit and retain young men in defense department positions (to combat an unseen enemy designated "The UNWHAT"), evolves into the sacrificial murder / suicide of a man and a former ideal regarding societal requirements for manhood.