SILICON MAN SPEAKS

a betapunks theatre performance 

Silicon Man Speaks was first performed at the Washington Project for the Arts, and made no sense to anyone, even though the performers seemed to have a very good idea of what they were doing. The first performance was highlighted by the presence of Lisa E. as a dada-esque audience member who shouts out to the performers: "No that's not how it's done," before joining them onstage in an odd rendition of the lonely goat herder song from "Sound of Music." (As she goes to the stage, Lisa drags a dead pig on a chain across the floor, and the pig is then left by the staircase to exit the theatre, forcing patrons to look into the empty eyesockets of the dressed carcass.) The play evolved through three performances, as "Naked Truth," "Cobain's Lament," and again as "Silicon Man" opening for Emergency Broadcast Network at Blagden Alley. When riotgrrrl  Mary Bilyou confronted Blue and accused him of purposely writing something nobody could understand, Blue defended the play by saying that he didn't understand it. That realization led to the play quietly being shelved, and forgotten.