Act 1: On Monday: The quartet begins as puppets, performing not-quite-repetitive movements that coalesce and diverge from one another to craft the narrative. Spoken text forecasts what strange circumstances will befall you on the days of a week, in some future dystopia. When the dystopia cracks, in a period of peace, the quartet builds a fantasy landscape of outlandish protest signs, sad flailing inflatable arms, and the omnipresent moon. A quasi-nightmarish reality eventually snaps back into place. The quartet performs at a fancy restaurant.

Act 2: Nightmare for JACK (a ballet): The musicians perform a ballet comprising exaggerated versions of the motions involved in playing their instruments—a counterpoint to the musical material, as well as a cobweb of complexity upon which to lay the nightmare. Sometimes the piece pursues dreamlike streams of consciousness; at other points, the progression is more linear and concrete. Ultimately, the quartet acts as night guardians, helping to put the forest to sleep.

Act 3: Sometimes it’s the Last Time: The forest is asleep, and the quartet is in the dark, echolocating with whistles and clicks. As the members tentatively explore a new environment, their world erupts into brilliant chaos. They subsequently search for melodic stability in dense, perpetually sliding sound clusters, a musical metaphor for finding beauty in the journey and taking pleasure in the unique (unrepeatable). This gives way to music that plays on the symbiosis and conflict of the canned versus the real, through pop lyrics, playful nonsense, and a visual background of stock video alongside AI-generated images. Finally, the quartet gathers in song around the campfire, characterized by banjo music, children’s games, and a confusing quest to understand a map. 

Act 4: Interlude: The quartet takes an intermission in the form of learning a new board game. Momentary outward focus allows for recalibration.

Act 5: Beautiful Trouble: A long walk through a grassy field, a search for the elusive “beautiful.” Sometimes one finds loss; at other times, wholeness. In each there is cherished absurdity.

Penn Live Arts, Philadelphia, PA
February 2, 2024 (World Premiere)

Roulette, Brooklyn, NY
March 15, 2024 (New York City Premiere)

Musica Strasbourg Festival
September 27, 2025 (European Premiere)

Festival d'Automne à Paris
November 5, 2025

Only Connect, Oslo, Norway
April 25, 2026

COMPOSER, DIRECTOR, VIDEO DESIGNER | Natacha Diels

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, SOUND DESIGNER | Matthew Craig

LIGHTING DESIGNER | Kent Sprague

COSTUME DESIGNER | Maile Okamura

Duration: 75 minutes

Preferred venues:
Black box, Proscenium, or Thrust
Capacity 200-600
Full-size projection screen and lighting rig

Touring party: 6

Tech rider, stage plots, and lighting plot will be provided on request.

Beautiful Trouble was developed with support from Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, TIME:SPANS, The Barlow Foundation and the Sachs Program for Arts Innovation. Workshops were hosted by Mannes School of Music at The New School.