Two Protagonists By Jamie Clyde

The body of work by Jamie Clyde takes shape with two main characters. Humans and animals inauspiciously find themselves staged as actors performing an entertaining match of survival, struggle, and chaos. Fabricated for the amusement of The Gods, the story of man vs. man and man vs. his dinner is an allegory narrating the human drama within ourselves, collectively, and with nature. The mutual tensions we create as we wrestle within American society and the world, compose a scene gleefully ravaged by the onlookers in the front row. Looking to the heavens for respite won't work here, as the story's inhabitants are at the disposal of pleasure and intrigue. In this place, feelings of frustration and despair are all one possesses; there is no relief.

Two Protagonists is a tale used as an instrument for the artist to contend with sadness and suffering and responds to the seed idea of Artistic Director & Choreographer Charlotte Boye-Christensen. Charlotte described wanting to create something of a battle, reflecting the challenges of our times, her feeling when facing American and Global politics that present existential threats to our homes, the planet, and our collective rights to choice, life, and the well-being of children.

Luckily for its characters, the artist hints at hope with a twist as she reveals the phrase "I AM DEAD" material hanging above the event entrance, referencing a meditation practice called "Maranasati: A Buddhist Reflection on Death.” Maranasati is a discipline that allows the death experience to become one's companion instead of a feared foe, permitting the practitioner an opportunity for tremendous gratitude, perspective, and compassion. The artist's text improvisations thus become a self-reflection and an opportunity for a better ending to a story with no way out.

Good Seats

BY JAMIE CLYDE

It’s for fun it’s always been for fun

But not yours.

Theirs either.
You eat them in thrashings and woe as the spectacle plays to amusements on stadium seating in the distance

Good seats are extra.

The cords attaching and puppeteering the YOU force friction in merriments
and the chickens we pluck who also think will is theirs menstruate in coops for free

To need a chicken.

I hope they know I leak as commodification also

Tickets are selling fast
did you get yours?
Dogs die in the cold and Jesus is a fool for hanging

Hanging. To Hang. The hanging man. HANG MAN.

but the main attraction is US
the characters in this dusty bowl choking me as I sweep it

Sweeping a feather duster.

Let’s decide who wins this later because I’m not sure winning cares It is mostly about living Jesus forgot that part.

Some moments I’m found in happiness
but that’s not true because the next beat means a pig is dinner
and I’ll soon be tripping while my weak ankles break and the stolen property in have in my arms falls through the earth

I hear laughter.

LOL.

I’m pretty sure my mom thinks god loves her
Did you know the cello is the closest instrument to the human sound?

To the human heart?

I should remind her
love flew himself into the ground on a cloudy day
I imagine his negotiations summoning a shrill sound
A bow
plucking
and striking
in the wrong key
reverberating its madness into the aching fingers wielding it persuading the event to play out its drama somewhere else

Preferably on land.

I wonder what her salvation did on that day?
Probably ate a hotdog with the President and vended more tickets

They were on sale.