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PORCELAIN A Voice Play Chay Yew Porcelainwas first presented by Mu-Lan Theatre Company at the Etcetera Theatre , London, on May 12, 1992, with the following cast: Voice One: David Tysall Voice Two: Adam Matalon Voice Three: Julien Ball Voice Four: Michael Parkinson John: Daniel York The play was directed by Glen Goei and Stephen Knight, and designed by Glen Goei. Porcelainwas later transferred to the Royal Court Theatre, Upstairs, London , on August 4, 1992, with the same cast with the exception of Voice Four, who was performed by Mark Aiken. Onstage are five chairs which face the audience;they arelined in a straightrow behinda bare cyclorama. The chairs are ordinary-looking.On the stagefloor and aroundthe chairs, there are many paper cranes litteredabout. The chairs willseat four characters of the play. From stage right: Voice One, Voice Two, John, Voice Three, and Voice Four.All the Voices are played by Caucasianmen in their early twenties to thirties and are dressed in black. In the middle chairsits John, an Asian male in his late teens dressed in white, relentlesslyfoldingpapercranes. Essentially this is a realisticplay sandwiched by lyricalinterludesby the Voices. When performingthis work, considerthe rhythm and the pacing of the dialogue. Voice One, Voice Two, Voice Three and Voice Fourplay amultitudeofroles(sometimes within a scene), that ofothercharacters in theplay to narrators.The director may choose tophysically arrangeand place the Voices in different parts of the stage and house in different scenes for dramaticeffect; the discretionis up to the director.It is importantto pause a little between scenesto establisha new scene. It is also important that all characters, particularlyJohn and Voice One (criminalpsychologist ),do not lookateach other throughout the play as the dialogue is specifically not written as stage dialogue. No music and sound effects should be employedduringthe play. U 69 SCENE 1 (The Voices come in from offitage and create London street sounds as they take theirseats. They may overlap each other's lines.) VOICE THREE. (Sound of Big Ben striking four o'clock.) VOICETWO. (Sound ofcars honking.) VOICE ONE.Watch where you'rewalking , you sod. VOICE FOUR. (Sounds of an underground train screeching to a halt at a station.) VOICE TWO. Mind the Gap. Mind the gap. VOICE ONE. No.This is not Piccadilly Circus. This is Trafalgar Square. No, not Piccadilly. Fucking tourists. VOICE TWO. Say, can you spare some change for a cuppa? 50p? Anything? Please. VOICETHREE. EveningStandardGet your EveningStandardhere. Only 30p. "Homo toilet sex murder." VOICE THREE. "Homo toilet sex murder." VOICE ONE. Would you be a love and fetch us a pint of lager from the pub? Bitter lager. No lime. And a pack of Rothmans. VOICE THREE. So the bloody Paki taxi driver drove me all the way to Primrose Hill instead. You'd think that the lot of them should at least speak 70 U PERFORMING ARTS JOURNAL 48 English or carry an "A to Z" around with them. VOICE FOUR. Where's the fucking number 15. I'll miss EastEndersat this rate. VOICE ONE. Top news ofthis hour: A man was found dead in a public lavatory in Bethnal Green in East London today. VOICE TWO. Police suspect murder. VOICE FOUR. Motive has not been established. VOICE ONE. The alleged murderer is said to be a nineteen-year-old Oriental male from nearby Whitechapel. VOICE THREE. London Metropolitan Police are still investigating the brutal murder. Nowjust when you thought you had enough, more Kylie Minogue on Capital FM. VOICE TWO. Eyewitnesses to the crime claimed the suspect was cradling the victim after the cold-blooded shooting . VOICE THREE. The victim, William Hope, a twenty-six-year-old male from South Hackney, was shot six times. VOICE ONE. Sources believe that he was shot by an acquaintance. VOICE FOUR. (Overlapping,gradually louder and more urgent.) The police found the suspect at the site of the violent murder. VOICE THREE. (Overlapping,gradually louderandmore urgent.) The White House has no further comment on the recent civil rights rally held outside the Lincoln Memorial. In London, there's been a fatal shooting in a public toilet in Bethnal Green this afternoon. VOICE ONE. (Overlapping,gradually louder and more urgent.) Two days ago, the Bethnal Green community of...

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