SYNOPSIS:

Time: 1962 for Hillbilly and Shrink. 1961 to present time for Drifter. The other scenes are out of time; they live in the collective imagination. Place: Shrink’s consultation room, New York. Drifter scenes take place on the highways in scenes II, VII and IX of Act I. Friends house in scene II of Act II. A room in a posh hotel in scene IV of Act II. At the top of a mountain in scene VI of Act II. Streets of Boston Town in scene II and V of Act III. Café-restaurant in Boston Town in scene III of Act III. Speaker and Troupe of Activists, Soldier and Ghost’s scenes take place in the outskirts of reality. Speaker and Troupe of Activists’ first appearance in the prologue may be set in the hall of the theatre before the entrance of the audience or outside the theatre. Scene V of Act I Speaker comes through the audience with the Troup of Activists heading to the stage. Scene I of Act III Speaker is dressed like a home-less lecturer discussing social matters on stage. Action Into the vacuum of Hillbilly’s nightmares is where the plot begins. His deepest phobia about the end of the world relating to the turmoil of 1962 possible nuclear world war, where threats involving URSS and Cuba versus USA, forces him to start psychiatry’s sessions with Shrink. He shares his fears with Shrink and through his imagining world the other scenes are painted and characters are born. (The fear of a World War III was so intense in 1962 as Bob Dylan described that he was not sure if he would have enough time to finish writing the lyric of “Blowing in the Wind”.) The character Drifter is my own biografical free attempt on Dylan's life based on many biographies that I read. Drifter is doing a separate trajectory on stage and he is more than a figment of Hillbilly’s imagination, living in the second plot of the play. He’s a musician trying to make it in NY and throughout struggles he succeeds to make it bigger than he ever dreamed. As he ages and more sorrow knocks at his door, despair drives him to try taking his own life. He becomes an evangelist, but not for long; meanwhile his instigation brings him more uncertainty and void. The story ends with Hillbilly finding a safe ground for his fears and to Drifter’s life is left with more mystery, but at last peace comes as he ages and wisdom brings acceptance and comprehension.

"INTO THE VACUUM OF HIS EYES - THE LYRICS OF BOB DYLAN "