The Piano as Therapeutic Participant in the Drama of Pink Mouse

Out of the multitude of imagery in Pink Mouse, both visual and aural, one feature is picked out for close examination: the piano. This instrument is seen at the very opening and it reappears at significant moments as the piece progresses. In an opera notable for its colourful animations, most of the appearances of the piano are presented in black and white and are filmed from the life. In this essay, encounters with the instrument are traced in the order in which they occur, and the suggestion is made that the pianist seen in the opening shot is in fact Maroussia as a slightly older woman, composing the opera and reliving the events from childhood within it. Following a hint offered in the opening placard, where she vows “if a miracle occurs and I have a lucky escape”, the suggestion is made that composition has something of the therapeutic quality of an ex-voto. Maroussia is seen putting together the musical imagery at her piano, attempting to make it her own, still suffering horribly from the memories of her traumatic ugliness, struggling also with Pink Mouse in the form of the dancer, who is her collaborator, fellow-rememberer and often awkward muse.