O My Aiken Lowry a literary cabaret
Notable Props
YOUR TICKET: Saved by Leo from a Central European History journal in 1987. Prized for its ominous quality. The Jadrolinjia ferry line still operates in the Adriatic Sea.
GARDEN SIGNS: With few exceptions these quotes are taken from Under the Volcano, and are prized for their ominous quality as well as Lowry's mistranslations from the Spanish language.
PROPS SEEN IN VIDEO:
CABIN BACKDROP: Representing Malcolm and Margerie's squatter's shack on the Dollarton beach, on a moonlit night with the Shell refinery glowing across the water.
LOWRY / AIKEN PHOTO STAND: A sideshow essential to any literary cabaret.
THE LUMINOUS WHEEL: "Over the town, in the dark tempestuous night, backwards revolved the luminous wheel. . . " An Expressionist interpretation of the many symbolic "wheels within wheels" to which Lowry referred in his work, most notably in Under the Volcano. Historic versions of this wheel are depicted on the housing, with the constellation Eridanus (Lowry's name for Dollarton) shining above the wheel.
HANGED MAN SCROLL: Lowry played with the Tarot as well as the taropatch, and identified himself with the Hanged Man card, which actually symbolizes, among other things, rebirth and redemption rather than death.
SKELETON AND SKULLS: Central icons on the Day of the Dead.
OTHER PROPS:
SKULL TOSS: The Kabbalistic "Tree of Life" diagram, representing the progress of the soul, reminds Leo of a corn toss game. They are linked together here by an adaptation of Dr. Vigil's advice to the counsul in Volcano: "Come amigo, throw away your mind." This game may be available to non-profit organizations for fund-raising.
LOWRY ALTAR (OFRENDA): A kind of ex-voto memorial to Malcolm Lowry in a suitcase, containing photos and memorabilia from Lowry's life, and taking the legendary football shoe and copy of Moby Dick said to have been the sole contents of the suitcase Lowry brought to America as a point of departure.
AIKEN ALTAR (OFRENDA): A Day of the Dead altar for Conrad Aiken in the form of a suitcase containing a number of objects that reference his life and work: a chess set, Japanese prints, a pipe, the accoutrements for making a martini, books and others.
