Anthony Black, narrator and director, in Yann Martel’s meditative play on the path of life.
In One Discordant Violin, the music and narration are central to the story, sometimes complementing each other and at other times riffing on one another. Adapted by Yann Martel (Life of Pi) from his own short story, the play follows the adventure of a single narrator whose journey provokes a meditation on the meaning of life, the Vietnam War, Trump, the real estate mogul, Joseph Conrad’s stories and fastidious use of punctuation, and the lost dreams of youth.
Black, as the narrator, wonders how the world can be so upside down as he reflects on his youth.
The show opens with Jacques Mindreau, a shaggy-haired musician from Cape Breton, Canada, playing a fusion of classical and experimental musical elements on the violin with a haunting and fervent kind of singing. The melancholy melody he plays, inflected with small crescendos, sets the moody and reflective tone for the show. Lights fade and, as he disappears, the narrator (Anthony Black) enters.
The narrator, who is now an adult and works in an office job, tells the story of a visit to Washington, D.C., in his 20s to visit a friend. His friend gets caught up with work, and the narrator is left on his own to explore the city. He wanders off the typical tourist path and happens upon the Merridew, an old theater. Its state of ruination is well captured by Nick Bottomley and Anna Shepard’s simple set design of broken chairs, glass, and pieces of debris littered across the floor. The narrator describes coming upon an announcement of a concert that will take place that evening by the Maryland Vietnam War Veterans’ Baroque Chamber Ensemble, who will play Albinoni, Bach, Telemann, and the world premiere of The Private Donald J. Rankin String Concerto with One Discordant Violin, by John Morton. The narrator confesses that this opportunity seems ripe for an aspiring writer.
When he returns later that day to listen to the concert, he has a near-transcendent experience. His mind, which is typically filled with words, is released and “with music, the mind’s traffic is silenced and sound—made intelligible through melody, rhythm, harmony, and counterpoint—becomes your thinking,” he says. “For a moment there is no past to regret, no future to worry about. Only a beautiful, soaring nonsense.”
Black is a wonderful narrator and summons the spirit of the late monologuist Spalding Gray with his clear oratorical style inflected with wonder. When the narrator meets two Vietnam vets at the Merridew Theater, Black does a marvelous job of bringing them to life: one is turtlenecked and speaks with a slow drawl, while the other is straight-backed and speaks in a clipped manner; always the soldier at command. Black physicalizes these characters with warmth and humor.
Jacques Mindreau, a Cape Breton musician, lends a mix of classical and experimental sounds to the show.
But not all characters are simpatico. After seeing the music concert, the narrator tells of following the composer Morton to his evening job. It turns out that the exalted music the narrator heard was composed by a man who cleans a bank after hours. When he sits down with Morton, it is only to learn that this man, while a wonderful composer, has no dreams left of his own. The narrator leaves with a sense of disappointment; after all, he’s struggling with own desires to be a writer, knowing the difficult, if not impossible, path that lies ahead.
The text can be ponderous at times, and it’s easy to lose track of the significance of the many subjects covered in the narrator’s reverie. But Black’s performance, coupled with Mindreau’s original score (co-written with Aaron Collier) infuses energy into the story when it begins to meander. Black wears many hats in this show: set designer, narrator, and also director, with Ann-Marie Kerr, which skillfully brings together the story of regret and lost opportunity as a result of growing up.
One Discordant Violin is playing through Nov. 24 at 59E59 Theaters (at 59 East 59th St.). Evening performances are at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; matinees are at 2:15 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $35 and maybe purchased by calling (646) 892-7999. or visiting 59e59.org. Tickets are also at the box office, open from noon to 6 p.m daily.
