Click to listen
Piano Woodcutter Mix
Pluck Ending

click to read
FERN opening text
FERN closing text

FERN
A SONIC THEATER PIECE

Fern is a theatrical sound piece that has been in development for over four years. The most current version of Fern was created in 2002 at Engine 27's 16 Channel Sound Gallery in New York City. Before this, Fern was presented at various stages of its evolution in Seattle (1998), San Francisco (1999-2004), and in New York City (2003).

The piece represents a surreal fairy tale that deconstructs through time. As it melts away, its characters are left wandering through a skeletal dreamscape.

In the end, only occasional memories remain amidst a stark and mysterious landscape. Music, sound effects, and dislocated text are used to create an image- rich language. The piece is based on the voice, melding song, gibberish, and unknown dialects to invoke comical, emotional, and sometimes visceral experiences.

The soundscape includes layered, found sound recordings of walking, bells, the chopping of wood, and chain saws, as well as cello, piano and musical saw.

Fern takes place in a forest dreamt of by the Narrator who studies Fern's three characters as they wander through her dream.

The characters include an angry woodcutter, played by Actor Bob Ernst, a singing maiden, played by singer Cheryl Richards, and a wandering sage, played by Merlin Coleman.