Carlo Gesualdo was a prince and landholder in Venosa in southeastern Italy. Around 1588 his wife began an affair with a gentleman in the vicinity. In 1590 Gesualdo, found the pair in bed together, stabbed them both, and hung their corpses in front of his castle for all to see. The story was retold repeatedly by poets of the day in a sixteenth-century equivalent of headline news. Was Gesualdo really a renegade as well as a murderer? Was he even a “modernist” of his time?
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David Leddy’s Susurrus runs for the entire month at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens. What did you think? Help others understand what the experience is like. Check back frequently and subscribe to comments to follow the conversation all month long.
Categories: People Are Talking!, Theater, Theater & Dance
Carlo Gesualdo was a prince and landholder in Venosa in southeastern Italy. Around 1588 his wife began an affair with a gentleman in the vicinity. In 1590 Gesualdo, found the pair in bed together, stabbed them both, and hung their corpses in front of his castle for all to see. The story was retold repeatedly by poets of the day in a sixteenth-century equivalent of headline news. Was Gesualdo really a renegade as well as a murderer? Was he even a “modernist” of his time?
Leslie Stainton covers the first night of UMS Night School, where she learned the meaning of “maverick.” VIDEO interview with UMS Head Usher Dennis Carter as he prepares to usher at the Einstein on the Beach preview performances.
Editor’s Note: UMS will present “A Night in Treme:The Musical Majesty of New Orleans,” a night of New Orleans jazz featuring the Rebirth Brass Band, this Friday, November 11 at Hill Auditorium. The following note …
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I was able to experience Susurrus this week and it was a really unique experience. Being surrounded by the beautiful gardens made it so special! I hope that lots of people will check this out and try something different.
Has anyone else seen it? Did you have a special moment where you saw something that fit perfectly with what you were listening to? Please share!
- Jenny, UMS
My husband and I "experienced" Susurrus last Sunday – it was a great event. The weather was kind of blustery and the wind was blowing in all the right points of the performance. We took our time and enjoyed an entire 100 minutes of peaceful walking through the gardens, haunting music and enough material to keep us talking about it all through lunch and dinner on Sunday. This is an unique and special performance – not to be missed.
My friend and I attended the theater piece as twilight was falling Friday night. A perfect setting for this magnificent experience! The more we discussed it, the more levels the "play" (though I hate to call it that) revealed. We returned this morning to hear David Leddy talk about the play and his work in general. I had never seen a "site Specific" (though Leddy said he doesn't like that term) before. SO many ways to experience the message of love and loss that they play presents. My friend and I also walked the labyrinth that one passes at about mid-point in the adventure — which added yet another level to it all. I hope MANY people will take advantage of this fabulous event — and I thank UMS for sponsoring it.
What a memorable theater experience…the 350 acres of the Botanical Gardens function as an supremely attuned setting for this intimate audio drama. I so appreciated being free to set my own pace, to pause, to repeat, to rest…rather like being a director. The weaving of memories, the intimacy of 4 speaking voices and the layering of music-both electronic, operatic, popular all skillfully harmonized with the sounds and rustlings of the natural world–the trees, the reeds, birds, tumbling Fleming Creek …Warm thanks to UMS for bringing Susurrus to us.
As a staff member at UMS, I am proud that we are able to present this piece. I was able to experience it last week and it's still in the forefront of my mind. It's such a personal experience being able to walk at your own pace in the gorgeous gardens. I was truly moved. David Leddy's work is so well done. He's quite the visionary!
I was also working at the gardens this weekend helping cue up the ipods and hand out programs and I was delighted to hear what people were saying as they returned – lovely, moving, brilliant, touching – were just a few.
If you are a theater lover – please do not miss Susurrus!!!
Penny and Elaine – thank you both so much for sharing your thoughts and for making the long trek out from Birmingham not once, but twice!
-Mary, UMS
It was a total waste of money — it was pouring rain during my time slot this weekend so I turned around and went home. There should be some alternative made for outdoor events that are weather sensitive. I will never order a ticket for this type of event again. DW
Sorry to hear you left – we started in the rain at 3:30 on Saturday afternoon and had a marvelous experience. The rain made the play even more intense – I think it would be much better than in sunshine. They distributed excellent umbrellas to take around, so getting wet was no problem. Watching the rain on Fleming Creek while listening to the performers at location 4 added a a wonderful touch – and the blue heron that flew past us we apporached location 7 was an omen of events to come.
Susurrus is an experience not to be missed – rain or shine!
The concept, the surroundings and the music were great. We toured on Sunday at 3:00 and the weather was perfect. The story line, however, was a real downer. The story of "incest", homosexual rivalry, sparrow dissection, etc. was not very uplifting in comparison to the environment. I would recommend the experience but overall both my wife and I felt as we did after seeing the movie Looking For Mr. Goodbar. We were happy when the story was over.
We wanted to thank you for bringing Susurrus to UM! We went yesterday and cannot do our experience justice in this post. It was absolutely wonderful! The play itself is profound and moving and the combination of the music and setting took our breath away time and again. This was such a unique and expansive experience. Entering the grove of Maples with the music playing in our ears, at that point in the play, was a deeply powerful experience.
We hope that in the future UMS will be able to bring more such unusual and remarkable pieces. We know you're always plotting.
Thank you again. This was truly a treasure.
Last Wednesday was a lovely day for this unique experience. The gardens provided the perfect venue for David Leddy's intense powerful audio drama and the musical pieces were fitting bridges as we walked from one location to the next. Thank you UMS for bringing Susurrus to Uof M and to the Botanical Gardens for providing such a great setting!
Great experience! My mother, friend, and I went Sunday afternoon. It was such a wonderful and different way of enjoying a theatrical performance. Walking at our own pace and appreciating the Botanical gardens with the story and music is something we will never forgey. Thank you UMS for bringing Susurrus to us.
A grey and decidedly cool Saturday afternoon was perfect — we felt we were in
Scotland, along with some of the players and speakers. I fwelt as if I was in a poem, where the metaphors were somehow come alive. The crspness of the musical interludessharpened my interpretation of them and how they became part of the action of the drama.That feeling at first, Who are these people?? – was inexorably shifted to understanding and appreciation as we met and remet the actors — or more accurately,re-met their words.
All, it was a magical piece. I often prefer to have my own imagination engaged, rather than being given a more realistic real figure. The mystery hightens the appreciation.
Thanks to UMS for bringing this work to us. Will hope for more like it next year. –Having seen Midsummer Night's Dream just this past summer in the Arb made a lot of interesting connections!
The playwright has a great blog–it's all interesting but to read his comments on Ann Arbor, scroll down to September 10 & then also read the next entry, for Sept 18, which has more. Looking at the slideshow of the photos he took is an interesting way to see a Scottish view of Ann Arbor (and they are good photographs).
Thanks so much, June. I'm always thrilled when people notice my photos! There's now a new slideshow on the blog with more photos of Ann Arbor (including my photos of the Michigan Theater which I fell in love with!). The photos then go on to show my research trip to send Susurrus to gardens in Sao Paulo, Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago.
http://davidleddy.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/south-…
I had such a great time presenting Susurrus in Ann Arbor. UMS did a great job and I'm really pleased that so many of you seem to engage with it and appreciate the hard work that goes into their excellent programme.
This is good. We were approaching station 3 and there on the small wooden bridge we needed to cross was a beautiful young woman in a bikini and her two female friends were photographing her. The play continued on the IPOD and we had to wait about 3 minutes while the students got their shot. Nobody was particularly bashful and their photo shoot continued at station 4, the siren wadded in the fast running stream…alas, this was the last stop where we saw her. I couldn't make this up!!
I also had an experience of watching a young woman being photographed and wondering for a moment if they were a part of the play. They certainly contributed to the Midsummer's Night Dream scene and overlapping meanings in the play. Unfortunately my companion was in a wheelchair and the paths are definitely not handicap friendly. The Shakespeare in the Arb performances are much more accessible and sensitive. UMS can do better.