Mother’s Prototype: Birthday Ritual

Watching Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956)

Master of Scenarios:

Nice to see you again 

Music: Miriam's Theme

Scenography

The Master of Scenarios hands you a menu

Today’s specials: VistaVision and Technicolor

Liquid- and gas-containing canisters with these labels

The Master of Scenarios inserts them into your booth

He operates activating mechanisms

Your booth converts into your specialised chair for the workshop

Designed with the latest Golden Calf technologies

These propel you into a state conducive to experimental mythic hygiene

We hear beeps and blips suggestive of vital-sign monitoring

Lighting changes with the rhythm of your breathing

We will work closely on the design – for now imagine what you will

You are watching DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1956)

The golden calf scene: out of sequence, various speeds, cyclical

Your Master of Scenarios is beside you

You are simultaneously your current self and your ten-year-old self

You:

(Looking around)

My birthday

Master of Scenarios:

Pennsylvania, circa 1970

Cake, ice cream, presents

And ritual participation in a core mythic narrative

You:             

Jewish kid’s birthday

Sc.

The Master of Scenarios morphs into Mother

(This happens regularly, as the Master of Scenarios performs many roles)

Mother and son sit in movie theatre seats

We flash on Mother’s face projected onto the plastic head

Let’s remind ourselves that you are visiting the Café from Mother’s desk

Mother:

Are you ready?

You:

Yes

Mother:

(Ostentatiously formal delivery)

Changing the story…

You:

Can change the world…

Mother:

Yes

You:

What story?

(Nodding to the movie screen)

This story?

Mother:

This story

That story

Your story of this story