STORY & SETTING

“Positions 1956” explores the “positions” both sexual and societal of the mid-1950s as a newlywed Bride and Groom educate themselves with instructional manuals.

Part One, “Marriage Manual,” is set in a bedroom over the first few months of the Bride and Groom’s marriage as they explore positions and begin to learn about each other.

Part Two, “Physique,” is set in a gym where the Groom goes to a Trainer to receive a course in physical fitness based on exercises from 1950s men’s physique magazines.

Part Three, “Social Dancing,” is set in a dance studio where the Bride and Groom learn how to dance from an Instructor using methods from “How to Dance” manuals of the 1950s.
 
 
PRODUCTION REQUIREMENTS

“Marriage Manual” requires a double bed, night tables and two lamps. In “Physique,” the bed is replaced with a gym mat, a bench, a stool, and a few weights. “Social Dancing” is set on a bare stage set up to look like a dance studio.
To support the “instructional manual” core on which the opera hinges, the chapter headings of each of the marital positions, exercises, and dances are projected in a visible manner, e.g. on the wall behind the bed, the gymnasium and the dance studio.
The opera features three principal singers accompanied by an instrumental quartet: violin, cello, woodwind and synthesizer. There are no pauses between the three parts of the opera. The few set changes are expedited in view of the audience.