Vocalypse Productions presented the world premiere of Vonda de Ville in Temporal Follies with music and libretto by Lukas Pearse.  Vonda was a fully staged, large scale, one hour dramatic musical work involving voice (Janice Jackson) in combination with recorded sound and live electronics (Lukas Pearse).  It was presented between February 3^rd and 9^th at the Bus Stop Theatre, Halifax, Nova Scotia and was supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. 

The narrative goes as follows:  In an effort to kick start her career in the late 19^th century, a vaudeville singer, Vonda de Ville decides that “new technology” is her key to stardom – she seizes an opportunity to become one of the early recording artists.  Her colleagues mock her interest in this new-fangled machinery which steals her voice away only to be replayed later, without her presence, at a penny arcade.  She thinks they’re silly and superstitious, so she takes the gig.  But something strange and unexpected happens.  Her voice actually separates from her body and spirit, and thus begins a century-long journey through space and time, where the voice and the spirit of the long-dead singer wrestle for reconciliation.  Her spirit desperately seeks closure, an exit from the stage.  More than anything, she wants the final curtain to fall.