Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread

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Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread is a short play by David Ives, imitating composer Philip Glass's minimalist style; that is to say that comparatively few words and ideas are repeated many times throughout the work. The structure of this piece is closest to a rap or musical number, but it is quite distinct from both. The beat is alternately very fast and very ponderous, and Ives rather clearly captures the essence of the Glass style.

The play opens and closes completely normally -- Philip Glass enters a bakery, where he encounters in passing an old love of his. A few lines are exchanged, some between Philip and the baker, others between the woman and the friend who is with her.

Between the two ends of this scene, in a long section marked by the ringing of a bell, come rhythmic reorderings of the words used in the opening and closing. Some of the phrases make no sense ("PHILIP CAN THINK BREAD"), but they are used to create an emotional atmosphere suggesting Philip's subconscious state at seeing this woman again. Other lines are understandable but absurd, such as "PHILIP IS A LOAF OF BREAD" and "PHILIP NEED A LOAF OF LOVE," while others still make obvious sense, such as "TIME IS A MOMENT."