Kazimir Malevich's Black Square:

How the fuck does one put such an artwork on stage? I could begin by explaining why this is a work of genius, but I think it would be a waste of time. (I'm getting tired of conversations about art, theatre or history that begin with apologies and arguments supporting why such things are important and how the discipline is valuable to study---history profs particularly like to begin semesters delving into these questions. It's all internalized anti-intellectualism..but I digress)

When I see this I think of actors in all black, their faces blacked out, their individuality physically engulfed by the blackness, yet they still retain something of a recognizable human form. As far as dialogue goes, I hear witches---not to associate the blackness with evil (or witches for that matter), but I hear the shrieking, cackling vocal noises usually associated with witches. I think of Jonson's anti-masque "The Masque of Queens," not for its content particularly, but its dramaturgical rebellion of producing a work of ugliness where ugliness wasn't allowed before: the creation of contrast and negation.

What are these shriking, cackling vocal noises talking about? What is their goal? What do they want and can they achieve it? Will it descend into a Beckettesque extentialist carosel of meaningless repetitions in a sad effort to generate meaning? (No, because that's cliche)

I won't know until I start writing.