GHOST IN THE MACHINE to play The Orange Curtain Theatre July 9-25, 2004

June 1, 2004 -- During the course of a three-day visit, two couples – four academics, hosts and guests, spouses and lovers, old friends and a new acquaintance – find themselves, suspecting and distrusting each other over the issue of a lost or possibly stolen fifty dollar bill.

A concurrent mystery surrounds the strange appearance of a 15th century chorale melody in a randomly generated piece of computer music, a piece researched and studied by one of the two couples – MATT, a musicologist, and KIM, his girlfriend, a computer expert and game theorist. Is the melody to be understood as a mystical sign, a sort of miracle? Can it be understood as a highly unlikely, yet possible random occurrence? Is it an example of a super computer, working from powerful algorithms, asserting itself? Is it an ironic joke, played by the piece's sardonic, half-Vietnamese composer, MIA SHUMANN? Or is it a hoax of a different sort, a nasty bit of academic tampering and fraud?

The two mysteries dovetail as suspicions between the two couples of possible thievery and complicity quickly grow into harsher questions of sexual infidelity. These in turn give way to anger and accusations of betrayal, causing, in the end, the academic reputation and career of KIM to be impugned and, finally, destroyed. In the process, the subtle and not so subtle hypocrisies of marriage, friendship, and career are exposed, perhaps irreparably damaged.

"A devilishly clever puzzler of a comedy…it traps us in a web of uncertainty till we begin to second guess with the characters." – Jan Stewart, New York Newsday

WHEN:
Friday and Saturday - July 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, and 24 at 8:00 p.m.
Sunday – June 11, 18, and 25 at 3:00 p.m.

WHERE:
THE ORANGE CURTAIN THEATRE (The Second Stage at the Camino Real Playhouse)
31776 El Camino Real
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675

ADMISSION: $12.00

INFO: Reservations and info at www.theorangecurtaintheatre.org or call 949-412-3252. Photos available.

Coming in August – Collected Stories by Donald Marguiles





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