Susurrus (David Leddy)

A few years ago, Arts & Ideas featured, "Cell," a participatory performance piece that Mike and I thought was a fantastic experience. When this year's A&I included another work "for an audience of one," we were eager to try it. Though very different from "Cell," Susurrus" (by David Leddy and produced by Fire Exit) did not disappoint.
We went to the Conservatory at Edgerton Park, where we each given an ipod, headphones, a map and instructions for listening to a four-voice play in eight parts as we moved from one station to the next. The afternoon was warm, sunny, and clear: perfect for strolling through the park.
The drama wove together remembrances of a the premier production of Benjamin Britten's "Midsummer Night's Dream," recollections of adult children of opera singers, discourses on bird anatomy, and revelations of pedophilia and incest. As we walked from one station to the next, we heard music, ranging from some swinging Frank Sinatra to a luscious rendition of Dido's "Remember Me" (Janet Baker singing Purcell's Dido and Aeneas).

Highly recommend.