"When you say the word 'dog,' " the Swiss founder of modern linguistics Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) once remarked, "everyone imagines something different." But as Hasse Mitsuko's new one-woman show, "Voice," triumphantly demonstrates, even the simplest sounds, too, can be full of meaning.
As the show opens, Hasse -- wearing a multicolored emcee's coat, her head a shock of spiky hair -- stands spotlighted centerstage. Out of the air, over the audience, comes a buzzing sound, a low-pitched "aaaa."
"Ah?" says Hasse, looking up curiously. Her eye appears to catch something, eliciting a long "aah" of recognition. The noise buzzes closer: "Ah!" she says, surprised. Closer still -- "a! a! a!" she utters in panic. Then the vowel-insect seems to fly further away. "Ahhhh," comes the sigh of relief.