Another Story tells the tale of a Modern-Day Genocide happening in The good Old USA. It takes place in a fictitious every town, and its cast of characters, on the outset, are the everyday folk we cross paths with everyday. The libretto follows through the first act, the separate stories of those in the town, as they prepare for the arrival of the Soldiers Towards a Righteous Country, a militant operation that has managed to take hold of the government and has been grown and expanding, cleansing the country of 'unwanted'. The token stories of the first act include the boy who loves the girl, who's in love with one of the soldiers who joined the group in the hopes of saving his love; the middle-aged couple who have nothing to lose, who live for their young son, esp. since the wife is dying of cancer. The wise woman who lives in the shanty house at the towns edge... And the story of the inner workings of the Soldiers Towards a Righteous Country, who actually believe that they are doing what is best for the country.
These separate stories collide at the end of the First Act, when the Soldiers Towards a Righteous Country take control of the town.
The second Act opens with "the Cleansing", when we see who is set to live and who is set to die. It is also at this moment when the family is torn apart, and the young boy, refusing to let his family go without him, is shot military style by the Soldiers for a Righteous County.
The story only goes downhill from there, with the final scene set in the makeshift 'Cleansing Units', and its not pretty stuff.
Part The Lottery, part holocaust metaphor, Another Story was something that was interesting, to say the least. Looking back on it, I find that what I was trying to get at was something about unwarranted fear and discrimination of the 'other' within todays post-modern society.
In a way, through our everyday actions, we judge and discriminate at the snicker of a joke, or an awkward glance.
These emotions are very human, and its a touchy subject.
As the main title song lyrics state...
Just another face
In another Crowd
With another Past
And Another Story.
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