The Raft is a drama that attempts a 'translation' of Schönberg's twelve-tone
theory of musical composition. Interpreting tone as voice, twelve voices are permutated over twelve moments, in order to imagine a poetic/prosaic form that is not simply lyrical, epical, or dramatic, but tonal. The work is also scored across the line to sets of twelve syllables, including spaces, which are also accorded a syllabic value. The narrative retells the famous story of 'The Raft of the Medusa', in which over 100 people perished off the coast of Senegal in 1816.
