Evening

Extract

Eight men sit in armchairs arranged in a circle at a comfortable distance for speaking. Each man's wife sits on the right arm of his chair in a casual, intimate way. Within the circle, on small, separate tables are: 1. a large, portable transistor radio; 2. a small, portable television set; and 3. a portable record player with a popular record. The radio and television set are pre-tuned to broadcast immediately when they are turned on. One of the men has a small transistor radio in his pocket. Each of the women carries a small, white paper bag full of grains of rice.

Each performer's part is a list of eighty-one consecutive “moments.” There is no time schedule for these moments; they follow one another at any pace the performers as a group establish, and this pace can change continuously throughout the performance.