Improvement: Don Leaves Linda

score and text by Robert Ashley
Instrumentation - CD, 7 voices
After Don abandons his wife Linda at a roadside turn-off in middle America, Improvement takes us on a journey through the disjunctions of the American psyche, from an airline ticket counter to the big city, from an all-night deli to the inside of Linda's mind.
Improvement's composition in numerous short scenes (mostly no longer than five minutes) reflects Robert Ashley's desire to write for a 'tele-literate' audience. Seven singers accompany a prerecorded score which draws on an eclectic array of influences - minimalism, pop music and Central American indigenous music, among others, combine in this extraordinarily original work.
"Improvement is unbelievably daring..." Village Voice, New York
Australian Premiere Playhouse Theatre, Victorian Arts Centre for the Melbourne International Festival, September 1993. Directed by Douglas Horton, musical direction by Robert Ashley and Peter Locke, designed by Jacqui Everitt, lighting design by David Murray.