Abstract
Artistic director Michelle Hensley is aiming not for a "social service theater" but for an Elizabethan breadth in her spectators and the electrifying charge of theater pared to its essence: text; expert actors; spare set pieces that can be swiftly set up and dismantled in whatever gymnasium, cafeteria, or community room presents itself as the day's performance space; no theatrical lighting onstage or in house to segregate actors and spectators. McClinton's casting decision for Clov, then, though unorthodox, may nevertheless be keenly faithful to Beckett's original inspiration. Because Ten Thousand Things' aesthetic is necessarily so visually spare, their production team includes a live musician and sound effects person to create a soundscape that enriches, shapes, and punctuates the action and emotional currents of the play. [...]they are being watched by someone who is never named, has no spoken dialogue, yet comments on, translates, and even transforms their actions.