I distinctly remember a night about ten years ago, sitting bored in my apartment browsing the internet for anything remotely interesting, when I found myself reading a short story that completely changed my outlook on life. At the same time it was full of ideas that were entirely familiar, almost mundane, and somehow lent a perspective on being human that I had never quite encountered before.
This was The Egg by Andy Weir, which has since been shared all across social media, translated into thirty languages, adapted into youtube videos, and re-posted on reddit a countless number of times. For the next ten years this thousand word short story was glued to my brain, popping into my consciousness at least once a week. Something about living through 2020 and the seemingly global struggle to realize and remember the humanity of every single person around us finally sparked the idea to create a version of the story with music. At first I even thought of turning it into a single scene opera, but I felt that the gleefully frank and everyday tone of this cosmic and profound text would be lost.
I won't say much more about the plot here, since I feel the piece is best experienced for the first time with as little expectation as possible, but I do hope that this work will help listeners reflect on the nature of their connection to each life around them, their place within the world, and their consciousness within reality.
~ August , 2021 | New York, NY ~
