Trash, people, and space. Those are basic elements they need.

Last Sunday, a.pe.ri.od.ic performed “Time With People” composed by Tim Parkinson, also known as “Trash Opera” at Voxman Music Building.

You would think that these are obviously trashes. However, when it comes to ‘Time With People,’ they become musical instruments, background and components of theatre arts.

a.pe.ri.od.ic is Chicago-based performance collective featuring post-Cagean notated, acoustic and experimental music.

Tim Parkinson, a British composer of “Time With People,” redefined “fundamentals of opera from its sixteenth century origins and reconceived from elements of twenty-first century post historical culture.”

“’Time With People’ is exactly what the title says. It is some time with some people. And the opera itself has the performers doing various actions, activities that anybody would do in their lives,” Nomi Epstein, a.pe.ri.od.ic Founder said.

This non-traditional opera challenges audience to reconsider their preconceived notions of the nature of music.

“It is to be both part of something and separated and isolated visuals. So there is a lot of funs and playfulness in it,” Kenn Kumpf, performer/part-time faculty member at North Western University and Columbia College – Chicago said.

Also, it might have changed audience’s perception on awareness of trashes.

“In this sense, trashes sometimes are regarded as non-valuable. But this performance has us engaging with this same trash as valuable objects for making music, for making sound, exploring the potential of objects that are being rejected,” Johanna Brock, performer/musician, music teacher said