Drawing upon a 1949 “day-in-the-life” study of a seven-year-old boy, One Boy’s Day is a 13-hour performance installation that explores the complex realities of today’s children through the lens of America’s rural past.
One Boy’s Day is a deeply poetic work that asks how childhood has changed over the past 70 years. Where is the ideal American community today? Who makes these claims and to what ends?
Local students and teachers are invited onstage to occupy an immersive theatrical model of “Midwest”, the study’s idealized Kansas town, performing continuations of their everyday lives— from the routine and disciplined to the playful and poignant.
Rouse’s monumental score includes ambient electronics, a string quartet, a choir and invited local musicians who improvise in their own styles. The activities onstage are filmed in real-time and combined with students’ home-made videos creating a profound tableau of humanity orchestrated by music and light.
Learn More: http://mikelrouse.com/works/one-boy-day/