another image of survival and recovery is singing

Another image of survival and recovery is singing. We know of a number of stories where people have managed to stay alive by singing. These are shipwreck stories or mountain rescue stories. Singing connects up the three vital centres of consciousness: the head, the heart and the guts and so it connects up our energetic systems. We have done a bit of work on this in the workshops.

After Admetos returns from Alcestis' funeral he cannot go into his house. He is so powerfully reminded of the time when he brought his newly married wife back to his home and now he breaks down. He is unable to speak words and for some time he can only utter a series of sounds to express his pain. It turns out that ancient Greek is very rich in different sounds which express very precisely various forms of pain. These are generally translated into 'Alas' . The sounds constitute a kind of song in the sense that the music of song lifts the words to the level of sheer sound.

This relation of sound to physical and emotional feeling is a universal factor. The baby's cry and the human scream and the human cry of joy know no frontiers.

Jonathan Chadwick, Az Theatre