Having Fun on Norton Street!
One of the things I enjoy most about working with Norton Street is that the play constantly shifts gears without warning.
In the scene I worked on today, Bornless One finally explains how Norton Street came into existence. According to him, he became tired of floating alone in the void, afraid that something might tap him on the shoulder in the dark. So he ordered a computer, installed a world-building system, learned a few tricks, and built an entire reality out of stars, galaxies, walls, furniture, characters, sounds, and imagination.
What follows is a conversation that moves effortlessly between comedy, metaphysics, theology, and media satire.
Bornless begins to wonder whether there might actually be someone outside the universe he created. Crystal immediately turns the discussion upside down by revealing that Norton Street itself is being watched by millions of viewers as an online reality show. The character who feels observed discovers that he really is under observation.
The scene then drifts into one of my favorite Norton Street themes: scale. Mike reminds Bornless that the seemingly ordinary objects in the room contain uncountable galaxies, stars, worlds, and living beings. What appears to be a simple room may actually be a collection of universes disguised as furniture and household objects.
The comedy continues when the characters discuss the financial success of their reality show. Despite millions of viewers and subscribers, the production somehow manages to lose money after taxes. Like many things on Norton Street, the economics make perfect sense and no sense at all.
Beneath the humor is a more serious question. Why does Bornless repeatedly forget what he already knows? Why does he keep returning to the human world through rebirth? Why does each awakening feel like the first time?
The scene ends before that question is answered, leaving the audience suspended between laughter and mystery.
That has always been one of the central themes of Norton Street. The play is not really about a room, a reality show, a computer simulation, or even a created universe. It is about memory, identity, awakening, and the strange tendency of consciousness to forget itself and then spend lifetimes trying to remember.
As we continue adapting these scenes into the KGOD musical-radio format, I am continually surprised by how contemporary a fifty-year-old script can feel. The references may change, but the questions remain exactly the same.
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Here comes the Bardo bus now!
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See You At The Top!!!
gorby