Adrienne Rich - Director's Notes lyrics

You don’t want a harsh outcry here
Not to violate the beauty yet
Dawn unveiling ochre village
But to show coercion
Within that beauty, endurance required
Begin with girl
Pulling hand over hand on chain
Only sound drag and creak
In time it becomes monotonous

Then must begin sense of
Unease produced by monotony
Repetitive motion, repetitive sound
Resistance, irritation
Increasing for the viewers
Sense of what are they here for, anyway
Dislike of the whole thing
How boring to watch

(they aren’t used to duration
This was a test)

Keep that dislike that boredom as a value
Also as risk
So when bucket finally tinks at rim
They breathe a sigh, not so much relief
As finally grasping what all this was for

Dissolve as she dips from bucket