Works in Progress: Searching for Sebald with Adam J. Thompson

Name: Adam J. Thompson

What is your role in Searching for Sebald?: I founded and am the director of The Deconstructive Theatre Project, and am the lead artist behind and director of Searching for Sebald.

Tell us a little bit about The Deconstructive Theatre Project: The Deconstructive Theatre Project is a seven-year-old Brooklyn-based not-for-profit ensemble performance laboratory that exists to devise and premiere new hybrid media work and that is currently creating a series of projects at the intersection of live performance, the neuroscience of creativity, and interactive technology. In addition to the creation and presentation of performance work, we also operate a collaborative devised performance education program for middle school students in Brooklyn, and a community social engagement program through which our audiences directly participate in the creation of the annual performance work.

How is the creation process going so far?: We create new work using a company-developed three stage creative process: Creation of Vocabulary, Development of Content, and Editing and Rehearsal. The first two stages are much more expressive in that company members are encouraged to try all manner of ideas without regard for feasibility or long-term viability. We’re currently wrapping up our three-month-long second stage of Searching for Sebald, and I’m pleased to say that it’s been an incredibly fruitful and orienting experience. We began this stage with a number of potential directions for the piece, and have spent the majority of our time exploring performance vocabularies and the relationships between those vocabularies as a means of trimming down the number of possible directions and moving toward a more fully realized dramaturgical structure. I’m looking forward to spending the summer working with my team to wade through the incredible amount of information that we’ve compiled, and to reassembling the rehearsal room in September with a firmer infrastructure in place. During stage three, we’ll spend more time editing and finalizing the performance toward its world premiere in early 2015.

What is the developmental process like for you as an artist?: I rely very heavily on the role of chance in my creative process. I often begin with a large and seemingly un-stageable idea, and trust that I’ll encounter the right resources and inspirational materials at the right time in order to realize the methods through which I can transform an abstract notion into a visual, visceral, and emotional performance experience. Collaboration is also a necessity for me, and I rely on my company members to pick up and run with my initial ideas, allowing me to respond to and edit their work toward a final product. I’ve spent the majority of this developmental stage of Searching for Sebald assigning small sections of the text to the company members, who subsequently use the vocabularies in our collective palette to construct small self-contained performance sequences. Each day, between one and three company members will mini-direct their own sequence, assigning roles and tasks, working with each of our designers in the rehearsal room, and presenting the piece for feedback and shaping. I will sometimes work directly with the creator of the piece on making alterations or exploring different facets of their idea, and I will sometimes make a mental note that the piece has uncovered a new theme or performance vocabulary that I’d like to explore later in the developmental process. I’m not the sort of artists who – like a more traditional playwright, I think – can work in a solitary space. I crave and in fact need a room full of people responding to my ideas and to whose own ideas I can also respond. I often say that we “write in space,” as our rehearsal room is always very active, with a lot of tasks happening simultaneously and a lot of energy zooming around. This chaos fuels my artistic sensibility, and I’m completely lost without it.

What is it like working with mixed media? What are some challenges, benefits, etc?: I feel very strongly that mixed media is an absolute requirement if we’re going to attempt to capture the fragmented experience of how we all exist in the world in the present. Working simultaneously with live performance, digital video, and analogue film, as well as with live soundscapes and manipulated audio, allows me and the other embers of the company to more accurately layer and integrate the simultaneous broad and deeply intimate or small experiences of our own lives into our performance work. The benefit of a live theatrical performance is of course the breadth of scope; to use a filmic vocabulary, every moment is a wide shot. Integrating digital video and analogue film into our work allows us to also explore close ups and more abstract and poetic methods of conveying narrative and emotion. I am also deeply interested in creative process as creative experience, and the mixing of theatrical and filmic worlds enables me to create two very different performance landscapes that feed into and off of one another in a single space. In my work, the cross-pollination of these vocabularies is an integral component of the structure of the project, so much so that no element can contextually exist without the interaction of the others. The challenges of mixed media, of course, are that computers, cameras, projectors and the like often pitch off the rails and we’ve on many occasions spent hours of rehearsal time attempting to figure out why a bit of programming won’t work, why a projection looks wrong, or how to flatten out a piece of analogue film that’s just been devoured by a 16mm projector. While these situations are always frustrating, the company members has become attuned to their inevitability, and are always patient and kind with their time.

Tell us a little about W.G. Sebald and "The Rings of Saturn": W.G. Sebald is a German expatriate writer who was born at the end of World War II and grew up in the Bavarian Alps before leaving Germany – first for Switzerland and then for England. He eventually settled in Norfolk, a county in the northern part of the country, just west of the North Sea. He trained as an academic (as opposed to a creative writer) and became a professor of European Literature and of Literature in Translation at the University of East Anglia before becoming something of an overnight sensation via the publication of four hybrid fiction/non-fiction prose books, Vertigo, The Emigrants, The Rings of Saturn, and Austerlitz. Each of these books are primarily concerned with themes of memory and loss of memory (both personal and collective) and decay (of civilizations, traditions, and physical objects). They are attempts to reconcile Sebald’s own identity as a German expatriate with the atrocities of the 20th and 21st centuries, particularly with the traumas of World War II and the resulting “conspiracy of silence” (as Sebald termed it) concerning the inability of the German people to discuss the happenings during and immediately following the War. "The Rings of Saturn", his third book, recounts - on the surface - a simple walk taken by a Sebald-like narrator along the North Sea coast through the English county of Suffolk, which is riddled with geographical and architectural remnants of the past. The true nature of the narrative is the mirrored meanderings of the narrator’s thoughts which extend to topics across time and place, including lonely eccentrics, Sir Thomas Browne’s skull, recession-hit seaside towns, Joseph Conrad, Rembrandt’s painting “The Anatomy Lesson,” Jewish exiles, and the massive war-time bombings of the 1940s. Sebald was widely rumored to be a top contender for the Noble Prize in Literature when he died tragically in a car crash in December 2001. His work continues to inspire contemporary artists working across all mediums all around the world.

What is the importance/relationship of memory and the wandering mind to you as an artist?: I have a terrible memory – most of my own personal history is a giant blank in my mind – so I’m very interested in an ongoing investigation of what memory is and how it functions. Memory, too, is so necessary for artistic encounters, as everything with which we interact is contextualized by our previous experiences. Searching for Sebald is in large part about this idea – how does who we are and the specifics of our own histories shape the way we experience and relate to art – here, a work of prose fiction. The wandering mind is such a large part of being alive, especially in this contemporary climate of mass information. I can recall being much younger and sitting and reading a book for hours, yet now I begin to lose interest or worry about other tasks I need to accomplish in a matter of pages. Such a small portion of our brains have been mapped, and I am excited by the relationship we are creating in Searching for Sebald between the narrator who is wandering the Suffolk landscape and discovering detritus of the collective past and my company members who are wandering the landscape of their own minds discovering remnants of their own personal past.

What is it like exploring neuroscience through creativity?: I stumbled into this interest in neuroaesthetics – the neuroscience of creativity – while we were in the early stages of creating our previous piece, The Orpheus Variations. I am interested in the relationship between content and form in my work, and the science provides me with a bit of a road map in thinking about and constructing those relationships – i.e. in creating a piece about memory, how do the different pieces of a memory coalesce in the brain?; in creating a piece about the relationship of an individual to a book, how does the brain go about transforming the symbols on a page into an internal emotional experience?

Why Searching for Sebald now?: Searching for Sebald is above all an attempt to create a performance that is about the people who are making it. Last June, as we wrapped up the reprise engagement of The Orpheus Variations at HERE, I began thinking about how I might make a new work that revealed the unique personalities of all of my company members; I had simultaneously just begun reading "The Rings of Saturn", and the book’s form of revealing the preoccupations of its narrator through his interactions with the landscape became the perfect model for and lens through which to execute this idea. I also wanted to continue to expand the forms of and ways in which performance vocabularies might interact with one another, and Sebald is a perfect collaborator for this exploration, as he is well-known for expanding the boundaries of narrative by seamlessly merging fiction and non-fiction and incorporating photographs into his texts.

What can we expect to see in Searching for Sebald?: You can expect to see the live creation of a documentary film that weaves together a trio of narratives that explore "The Rings of Saturn", my personal experience visiting the Suffolk landscape, and the relationship of the company members to the text. The performance is a visually and sonically immersive experience that collides live performance, digital video, analogue film, Foley soundscapes, and an original cinematic musical score. You can sneak peek at the process on Instagram using the hashtag #searchingforsebald, or join us for our upcoming work-in-progress sharing on June 4 and 5 at FiveMyles gallery in Brooklyn.

Works in Progress: Searching for Sebald with Arielle Lever

Name: Arielle Lever

What is your role in Searching for Sebald?: I am part of the performance ensemble.

Tell us a little about Deconstructive Theatre Project?: The Deconstructive Theatre Project is a company that creates devised, ensemble based, mixed media pieces.  It is made up of a community of artists, each will different but specific skill sets – we all come together to share those skills as we develop a highly visual piece of theater. We teach one another, learn from each other, and under the guidance of Adam Thompson and the inspiration of source material, create a piece, which includes live performance, film, Foley, and music. The Deconstructive Theatre Project also has a strong outreach leg. Through dtpE – The Deconstructive Theatre Project EXPERIENCE, we invite members of the community to engage in the process of making each piece, so that audience members may have a deeper engagement with the project upon seeing it. The integrated theatre in education program is also an exciting component of DTP’s community engagement work, as it allows us as company members to share some of the tools we are working with in rehearsal with middle school students in relationship to academic subjects they are studying. 

How is the creation process going so far?: The process is going great! This group (with the addition of a few new members), also worked together to create DTP’s last piece, The Orpheus Variations.  It is really fantastic to already be in the groove of working with the same people, but also to meet with a team of some newer faces and fresh perspectives.  Because we create pieces from close to scratch and build them over the course of a year (sometimes more), it is hard to think of how the process is going in relationship to the product itself (our piece goes up February 2015). But I think that is the beauty of working with DTP; we can freely explore without having that timeline pressure that one might typically have in a rehearsal process.  For the most part, Adam, has been giving us each assignments which we work on and then bring in to teach to the group.  It’s been really exciting because it forces all of us to think outside of the typical box of things that we might need to as actors. We have to think like directors and filmmakers, and at times may lead the group or follow one another’s direction.  

What is the developmental process like for you as an artist?: The developmental process is highly creative, which is why I find it so exciting and keep coming back for more project after project.  When prompted with new devising assignments we are given enough information to be inspired, but little enough direction that we can feel real ownership over what we are creating.  It is also a real lesson in collaboration, as there are many minds and voices in the room, all with different ideas, but also different strengths as artists.  I often find that I have to take a step back and just listen to the company members, because there is so much to learn from all of them. I think that’s what I like best about working with DTP: it’s a classroom as much as it’s a rehearsal room, and I find that I am gaining tools and skills as I continue to work with the company. Having a bigger picture perspective as an artist can also only help inform my work as an actor in other projects.

What is it like working with mixed media? What are some challenges, benefits, risks etc.?: It can sometimes be overwhelming because there are many components to it. For example, in our piece we have the following to work with: pre-recorded digital footage, analog footage, camerawork, software programming, props, text, Foley, and music.  When we receive devising assignments I sometimes don’t know where to start, especially because I am far from an expert in most (well, any) of these topics.  But I find it is helpful returning to the prompt we are given, because it always gets my creative juices flowing. I also remind myself that experts in each of these areas are only an email or phone call away. A lot of times we’ll have an idea of what we want to do, but then will come into the room and ask others to help us get there.  Working with many mediums and with many people really lends itself to true collaboration. The tricky thing is, all components must work together and at once, and technology can be finicky, so we sometimes don’t know what the technology gods may hand us that day, so we have to sometimes be flexible, always patient.

Tell us a little about W.G. Sebald and “The Rings of Saturn”: W.G. Sebald is a German, British author. I say both, because his writing, specifically The Rings of Saturn very much illuminates his identity struggle.  I often times think of Sebald as a collage artist or documentary film maker, as his writing is far from poetic, and also doesn’t follow a clear narrative. Instead he takes many different events, his own thoughts, and also images and strings them into pieces, which are part fiction, part non-fiction, part personal meditation.  At face value, The Rings of Saturn is a story about a man who takes a walk along the coast of England. The book is about his walk, and all of the things that he thinks about while walking.

How does W.G. Sebald and “The Rings of Saturn” inspire you as artist?: Mostly, it inspires me not to take things at face value.  If you read Sebald’s book quickly you can gather a lot of facts, almost like an encyclopedia.  If you read it carefully you can find his deep preoccupations about growing up as a German with little understanding of the history before him, and how history and the idea of those before us impact us all.  In Sebald’s work, you will simply notice pictures on some of the pages. If you take the time to research where those pictures came from, you may realize that picture in the book is really a blown up smaller image that is part of a greater one. 

What is the importance/relationship of memory and the wandering mind to you as an artist?: As an artist, it’s really important and also helpful to be keyed into your own wandering mind…it’s where ideas come from, however direct or tangential. This is something which we all inherently have but may not be tapped into or aware of.  This project has been really great for me, because I rarely formally record my thoughts, feelings, memories.  Once it was an assignment, I started doing this more, and since have recalled so many things I didn’t even know I remembered, which was both nostalgic, happy, and sad. It’s also exciting to think about how your thoughts on a given thing may be similar or different to another’s on the same thing. This really comes to light as we make this piece as it is essentially an exploration of what all of us thought and felt as we read the same text.

What is it like exploring neuroscience through creativity?: Well for one, it makes neuroscience, a topic I usually find far over my head, accessible. I think that people take science and art and typically put them at opposite ends of the spectrum.  However, here we do not. In fact, it is essential in the creation of our work for them to be explored side by side.  It makes me think that we really can access the things that we find out of our reach by putting them in terms we may understand. 

Why Searching for Sebald now?: Why not? While I feel like it doesn’t have the same social/political urgency that some pieces do (that is just not the focus here), I do think it is important to be seen now, in terms of the theater world. We live in a time where technology, specifically projection art, is really trendy and is used left and right. However, it’s rarely integrated well into the piece, and very seldom is essential to the piece.  Here, in Searching for Sebald, the piece can not live without the technology, and its integration is thoughtful and specific, as opposed to tacked on simply for the sake of having it.  

What can we expect to see in Searching for Sebald?: Searching for Sebald is a choose your own adventure kind of experience. There will be many things to take in – multiple screens, actors working together onstage, and also will be many sounds and music to listen to; the story that you receive will be very different than the person sitting next to you, because each person will inherently experience different things depending on what they choose to engage with at any given moment of the piece.  You can expect to see a blend of bits of the book brought to life, our personal thoughts, feelings, and experiences as we read the book, some information about Sebald himself, and also…a fish tank used in a really cool way! Curious? Come see us in February 2015.

Works in Progress: Searching for Sebald with Katie Fleming

Name: Katie Fleming

What is your role in Searching for Sebald?: I am a member of The Deconstructive Theatre Project and the Props Designer of our upcoming show, Searching for Sebald.

Tell us a little about Deconstructive Theatre Project?: We are a group of artists who gather to experiment with and perform work that integrates text, music, image, and action. This is a special group of people for me. In my line of work the title of Properties Designer is rare, it is usually Props Master and you’re working within the Scenic Designer’s vision rather than along side them.  It’s fitting though, for our projects, because so much of the storytelling is in the objects and so much of what you see in the final product is found in the room rather than imagined, then built. I enjoy devising these shots with the company and appreciate that props has an artistic voice in the room. DTP also invites audience to step into our process with dtpE, Deconstructive Theatre Experience, which hosts events to engage audience with whatever ideas and themes we’re incorporating into the upcoming show.  For The Orpheus Variations we did an event about the life of an object observed. Which, as you can imagine, was particularly exciting to me as a props person.

How is the creation process going so far?: It’s really cracklin’. In the spring we gathered to talk about Sebald, his novel, and our experiences of the book. All very interesting but not very hands-on. This phase of development is more on our feet, it's been a very valuable few months. Our ensemble members work to prepare performance sequences depicting assigned sections of the novel.  They collaborate with designers to solidify their ideas, then teach their sequence to the ensemble. We all participate in executing and trouble-shooting the ideas in the room. Then we discuss.  It feels like members borrow what they find compelling from previous sections and start to establish an expansive vocabulary of the show that our director, Adam, gets to adopt and develop as we move into our next phase of production. The room has been really focused and joyful.

What is the developmental process like for you as an artist?: This phase of rehearsal is very important to me because the visual tone of the piece is sort of on the laboratory table, it’s being experimented with and developed.  In a Deconstructive Theatre Project show there is often a lot going on onstage.  There are multiple images being projected above the stage and, invariably, performers scurrying around building the next shot, doing foley, and reading text. I’m looking for visual ways to bring both clarity and awe.  I love when audience members search the stage for how a shot was built but we also want to provide a cohesive visual so basic information, such as where the character is in space and time, are perceptible. The way we do this is particularly unique, I think, because rather than creating a world the audience can step into, we build slices of reality on tables or in miniatures that the camera captures.  And when seen in sequence the observer recognizes a thread.  This is different from a lot of pieces I do that are ‘immersive’.  The work DTP makes is not labeled ‘immersive’ but I think it poses one answer to the question, how do we bring the audience out of their seats and into a live experience?  Design wise we’re not concerned about the audience feeling the textures of the world, more in experiencing them. As an audience member your experience is anything but passive.

What is it like working with mixed media? What are some challenges, benefits, risks etc.?: You know when you’re trying to edit a film and you dream of having an unlimited number of takes for each shot? Well, it seems to me that is essentially what we have the opportunity to do.  Sometimes it’s arduous, but this is a satisfying time for us because we get to sort of mix and edit the show live, building it in fragments then take a step back to rework everything carefully.  We’re not limited by what we did last rehearsal; it’s constantly shifting and growing.  For me, it’s a unique way to work with technology in performance. We find new things everyday and I know Mark and Sean, our projection and analog film designers, have a lot up their sleeves. But we know that no amount of innovation or technical proficiency can overcome a weak story. We take care to never default to a cool visual unless it serves the main idea.  

Tell us a little about W.G. Sebald and “The Rings of Saturn”: I’ve heard people say they spend the first few minutes of a DTP show learning how to watch the show.  I spent the first chapters of Rings of Saturn learning how to read the novel.  That was one of the first connections I made that ensured me this was going to be a great show to build with DTP. The narrator is recounting a walk he recently took on a coast in England, but his mind is constantly shifting between where he is resting in the present, on the walk, what he thought about while on the walk, and what that reminds him of in the present. Some of the subjects are quite grim.  As a reader it was interesting to continue that chain by writing what I was thinking about in the margins. Our company members have different relationships with the book; some have read it many times and some were finishing it as we entered this phase of rehearsal. A few cast members have even read it in different languages.  It’s great because I think it is useful to both see the text on the surface and have a few ‘experts’ who point out tidbits or inconsistencies that Sebald and his translators planted for the reader. We all have our copies and bring them to rehearsal.  In some, every page is scribbled on and covered in post-its. Some are almost clean but diligently underlined.  My favorite thing about having the books in rehearsal is when they are used as objects. You might walk around and see one copy being filmed in a shot, one propping up the projector, and one steadying an uneven chair.  We reference these books all the time for their text but they also have a physical presence that’s neat.

How does W.G. Sebald and “The Rings of Saturn” inspire you as artist?: I’m used to approaching projects by working simultaneously on the micro and macro. As a props master I try to work the way an actor might work on a character; to consider and scale the history, interest, reasons behind every arrangement of objects so that it weaves into story and serves purpose. I felt, in reading the book, that Sebald was playing with these scales in a way I had not experienced in other literature.  The way he carries your mind with his or leaves you in the lurch. Shifting theme, time, and location really interested me visually and thematically. The other day in rehearsal we were throwing around the idea of nostalgia and how Sebald’s book isn't nostalgic in that he’s looking back fondly, yearning to relive the past, it’s more asking to look at both the beauty and travesties that have been as well as the beauty and travesties around you.  I think theatre is at it’s best when it walks this line. Doesn’t condemn, but shows things in new light. So I’m looking forward to how we can use how Sebald walks this line in developing our piece.

What is the importance/relationship of memory and the wandering mind to you as an artist?: Well I have a horrible memory.  So I’m always coming up with ways in my everyday life to save what I encounter, I take photos, make notes, rip articles from magazines, never delete emails.  I think that lead to a personal as well as a professional passion.  The relationship between the mind, memory, and a live experience is at the root of my interest in working in live theatre. Memory and a collective social memory have been at the heart of many projects I’ve pursued.

What is it like exploring neuroscience through creativity?: Time, memory, and identity. What else is there to explore? As a theatre maker, I think it’s healthy to ask in the process ‘how will the audience perceive this?’ I am very interested in how individuals similar or differ in the patterns our eyes make when viewing a painting, how past experiences shape preference, what information our brains hold and why. I first became interested in The Deconstructive Theatre Project through neuroscience. DTP was going deeper into this than other companies I was aware of, first by developing shows with themes of memory and time then by building a way of story telling that is based how the human mind perceives information.  We lay the path for your mind to go on, but it’s an active experience and you’re going to be drawing your own information and narrative. 

Why Searching for Sebald now?: In general, in a world where social media chronicles our lives and we can alter social perceptions of ourselves I think the live experience is becoming more important.  A chance to be with yourself experiencing something in real time and being honest about where your mind is wandering and what affects you. The way I see it there are there are many reasons this is the right piece for DTP to tackle next. "Reading Rings of Saturn", I thought a lot about man’s ability to give reason. To look for the story, for the sense in it all.  I found I was willing to overlook inconsistencies in the text because I trusted the author was providing genuine information, I reasoned over the gaps.  Perhaps some of what Sebald is implying in his novel is that there may be no rhyme or reason.  Some children have bombs flying over their heads while others are home safe in bed. And isn’t it a huge odd world we live in. I think contemplating the history of human violence towards other humans is poignant for all of us today. Also, there’s a kind of wink in the novel about a connection between Sebald and the narrator, never named.  I really like this because in our work even when an ensemble member ‘represents a character’ in a shot they are still themselves in the room and may be holding the camera filming someone else moments later. We’ve very visually open about our process and the idea that we are all in the same room right now, creators and observers. Feels very fitting.

What can we expect to see in Searching for Sebald?: Searching for Sebald further explores DTPs interest in the relationships between performer, character, and plot being presented in real time in a room of spectators.  We explore more fully who we are in that room in that moment while relating to Sebald’s novel and hope that this will lead the audience to do the same.

Works in Progress: Searching for Sebald with Dina Paola Rodriguez

Name: Dina Paola Rodriguez

What is your role in Searching for Sebald?: I am the Production Stage Manager.

Tell us a little about Deconstructive Theatre Project?: The Deconstructive Theatre Project is a Brooklyn-based ensemble performance laboratory. The company focuses on creating devised multidisciplinary work. The company explores the relationship between the creative process and neuroscience. This is my second production with DTP and what sets it apart, for me, is how completely ensemble-based it really is. We create together no matter what our official role is in the company.

How is the creation process going so far?: I think it's going really well. At this point, we're several weeks in and the company has done a really good job creating a vocabulary for presenting sequences. As the stage manager, I know storyboarding and sketching scenes has become much more streamlined.

What is the developmental process like for you as an artist?: My process tends to be very different from project to project. In this piece specifically, I am definitely a planner! There is so much content to work with that many charts must be made to make a sequence happen.

What is it like working with mixed media? What are some challenges, benefits, risks etc.?: I primarily work mixed media heavy productions. For me, it is definitely the most challenging and satisfying! Challenges of course are a big part of the process, especially because in my experience we're trying to make a program do something it wasn't built to do. There are long nights of programming and troubleshooting but once it works, it just fantastic!!! Plus, there's nothing more fun to me than calling a tech heavy show and have it go seamlessly!

Tell us a little about W.G. Sebald and “The Rings of Saturn”: Sebald was such a writer’s writer; his attention to detail is unlike any other author I've ever read. It's really difficult to truly describe The Rings of Saturn. He can be talking about something in the present and from one sentence to another take you thousands of years away. There's an enormous amount of historical facts, so much so that I constantly found myself writing a list of dates upon dates to research.

How does W.G. Sebald and “The Rings of Saturn” inspire you as artist?: I had never read anything by Sebald before starting this piece and now having read "The Rings of Saturn" and his book of poetry Unrecounted several times, I truly admire his freeform style as well as his ability to not hesitate when writing about destruction. I find myself pushing to share more and get very honest with the DTP team during the process of creating the work. The Impact of the book and Sebald will stay with me long after Searching for Sebald.

What is the importance/relationship of memory and the wandering mind to you as an artist?: Memory is what forms us - whether or not we know it, it forms how we see the world. Exploring memory during Searching for Sebald has become an extremely prominent part of my experience with the book and the creation of the piece. There will be a paragraph or sometimes just one sentence which immediately prompts me to have a very visceral recollection and then completely shifts the way I read that particular part of the book. I think it's very important to allow yourself to wander to those places.

What is it like exploring neuroscience through creativity?: I sure do love it! It's very interesting to see what the brain chooses to focus on.

Why Searching for Sebald now?: Coming off of the success of DTP’s The Orpheus Variations, this piece feels like the appropriate next step for the company.

What can we expect to see in Searching for Sebald?: I think we're still very mid-process. I can say it is like nothing else I've ever worked on. If you want to see what we're trying out week to week, the company is constantly Instagraming rehearsal photos using the hashtags #searchingforsebald and #dtp.

Works in Progress: Searching for Sebald with Amanda Dieli

Name: Amanda Dieli

What is your role in Searching for Sebald?: I'm a member of the performance ensemble which means that I create, devise, and perform multimedia sequences based on the text and additional source materials.  My role in any given sequence could be camera operator, puppeteer, projectionist, narrator, Foley artist, or the subject of a video moment.

Tell us a little about Deconstructive Theatre Project?: The Deconstructive Theatre Project is a collective of artists working out of Brooklyn who devise pieces that fuse live performance with film and neuroscience.  We primarily create pieces where the form can mimic the subject matter.  Our piece The Orpheus Variations was about memory, and the form we used was meant to mimic the way the brain processes a memory. Searching for Sebald builds on that vocabulary as it is about what goes on in the brain while reading, which also about the brain processing memory, but also the brain imagining parts of the text while simultaneously daydreaming.

How is the creation process going so far?: I think it’s going pretty well!  It’s not an easy process, but I feel like we’ve gotten it more streamlined.  We have a really amazing production team and performance ensemble, and everyone is really excited about the form and the source material, which has led to some really moving and beautiful sequences.  I don’t want to give too much away, but I don’t know if I really could in words.  The company uses Instagram pretty heavily, so if you want to get a sense of what it’s like, I would search the hashtags #searchingforsebald or #dtp.

What is the developmental process like for you as an artist?: I’m a planner, so I really like this developmental process.  We get assigned a section from the book to focus on and then have a period of time, about a week, to take time outside of rehearsal to storyboard the sequence and communicate with the designers about any special requests.  Then we have about 1.5-3 hours to teach the sequence to the rest of the ensemble, build the sequence, and show it to the rest of the production team.  It’s very orderly and there are a lot of restraints, which I really like as an artist.  I think restrictions force more creative thought and simplicity through clarity and specificity. 

What is it like working with mixed media? What are some challenges, benefits, risks etc.?: The main benefit is that when it works, it’s really incredible.  I’ve gotten a few audible gasps this time around, and those are from people who know what to expect, so I can only imagine what a fresh-eyed audience member would think!  Of course when it doesn’t work, it makes you want to hit your face against a wall, because there are so many moving parts and time is limited.  As far as risks and challenges, I wouldn’t even say the challenges I face have to do with the technology.  More often, I find I don’t have enough free bodies to make the sequence.  I’ve gotten a lot better about making things that don’t require a lot “hands on deck” so to speak.  I think that’s my biggest challenge: making a dynamic sequence that utilizes all the performance ensemble evenly across text, Foley, lighting, performing, and camera work.

Tell us a little about W.G. Sebald and “The Rings of Saturn”: I’m laughing at myself right now attempting to summarize Sebald and "The Rings of Saturn" in any way that does either any justice.   Sebald was a German expatriate living in the United Kingdom, who wrote obliquely about the atrocities of man, specifically those committed during World War II.  Obliquely is the key word here.  He did this as part of the backlash against the German “conspiracy of silence” but also as backlash against what he felt was the “holocaust industry.”  "The Rings of Saturn" is about a narrator who is and isn’t Sebald going on a walk through Suffolk.  It’s about the walk, and the places and people he encounters, and also all the places his mind wanders to while on this journey.  That description feels so trite.  It’s a very dense book, and it is not easy to get through at times, but, oh boy, the last two chapters are amazing and when the narrator finally gets you to the end, it is incredibly satisfying, and it gets better with each read.  

How does W.G. Sebald and “The Rings of Saturn” inspire you as artist?:  I think there are a lot of artists who are afraid to be too specifically layered or complex at the risk of alienating their audience, and I would certainly fall into that camp at times - I think we all do.  However, if there’s anything I’ve taken away from this project, it’s to not hold back.  There’s room in any piece of art to say so much and there’s room for all of it if you allow your mind to wander and then loop back and make more sophisticated connections.  "The Rings of Saturn" is meticulously crafted but at the same time seamless; that’s really inspiring!

What is the importance/relationship of memory and the wandering mind to you as an artist?: I think the more things I experience, hopefully the more I’m able to recall or reference as I’m creating something new.  Just as I think having a lot of different experiences helps make an artist’s work interesting, I think it’s really useless if the mind can’t wander during that process.  What’s the point of experience without memory?  Ultimately the finished product is so much more personal when I’ve really allowed my mind to wander during the process and loop back and make connections to the original thought, instead of forcing myself to stay “on task.”

What is it like exploring neuroscience through creativity?: I like it!  It puts the emphasis more on process rather than product, even though watching our process is our product.

Why Searching for Sebald now?: The way we live now, or even just the way we read and process information now, we’re taking in so much.  I mean, as I’m writing this, I have a few other tabs open and I’m listening to music, and I’m thinking about what I have to do tonight after work, and what I have to still finish before I leave for the day.  And all of those things are connected, and all of those things will stay connected in some way in my memory.  I think it’s worth exploring through art, not just the information itself we process but how we process it and how we recall it and how we corrupt it in attempting to recall it.  I think all of that is so fascinating.

What can we expect to see in Searching for Sebald?: I think it will be like getting to watch the movie someone makes and plays in their mind as they read something new, complete with their history and preoccupations bleeding into the author’s narrative.

Works in Progress: Searching for Sebald with Howie Kenty

Name: Howie Kenty

What is your role in Searching for Sebald?: Primarily, I am the composer of music!  During the production, I'll also be performing a bit of guitar, bass, electronics, or whatever is called for, along with the rest of the ensemble (violin, piano, and percussion).  But as with all the members of the team, it's also been a lot of fun for me to step in and help the performers when needed during our rehearsals, and to give feedback on the work in progress.

Tell us a little about The Deconstructive Theatre Project:  This is my first production with DTP.  My introduction to the group was via my friend Adrianna Mateo, who played violin on DTP's previous production, The Orpheus Variations, and she had heard that they were seeking a composer for this upcoming piece.  From the description, it sounded like a really innovative and experimental group, and I was mightily intrigued.  I met with the Founding Director Adam J. Thompson, and in our discussions, it was immediately clear that we shared a lot of artistic ideas, and that this new work was going to be something quite unusual and unique.

How is the creation process going so far?: After beginning "The Rings of Saturn", the text on which Searching for Sebald is based, I had a few ideas for what the music might sound like, but nothing concrete. Attending the rehearsal workshops, however, was really inspiring and gave me a whole slew of new ideas and methods of developing the music. At the first rehearsal, I was thoroughly delighted by what I found.  Earlier, Adam had developed exercises for the performers that involved them interviewing each other and recording their reactions to and thoughts on the book, and at rehearsal, in a darkened room with a spot lit stage, each performer listened to the recorded interview of another on a headset, while simultaneously acting out this performance, becoming a different person reacting to a work written by another entirely different person.  The way this played with identity was quite intriguing (parallel to the ambiguity of identity Sebald cultivates in his narrative), and the words themselves, performances, and lighting all together created an effect that was magically indescribable.

What is the developmental process like for you as an artist?: When I've worked composing for this project, so far, it has been at home with a piano, and sometimes also with a computer.  (I tend to compose using different tools for different projects, and for this one, the piano seems to fit best.)  Part of what I've created is inspired by my own interpretation of and reaction to the book itself. But I also find that attending the rehearsals is great for new inspiration.  For instance, from that first rehearsal, with the focus on shifting identity, I realized that it would be very interesting to represent musically, and one way this could be done is through a technique called heterophony, which a former teacher of mine described as follows (to paraphrase): imagine that both of our great-grandfathers learned the same folk song, but perhaps from different teachers, and since they were from different areas, also with slight variations. If the two met and played these songs together, at the same time, they would end up mostly playing in unison, but their little differences would create interesting and occasionally divergent lines.  So that's one example of the kind of collaborative feedback particular to this production team and project that I find very inspiring.

What is it like working with mixed media? What are some challenges, benefits, risks, etc.?: I find that, aesthetically, it's often easier to become immersed in works that engage more than just one sense.  So the way this project uses text, live performers, video and projections (of both the digital and analog variety), physical objects, music, and sound creates a very powerful work.
That said, working with more formats does invite more complications and ways for things to go wrong.  Analog tape breaks, microphones feed back, computers crash, etc.  But the team here has done a good job so far of figuring out where these problems can occur, minimizing these places, and successfully managing the  fallout when things do go wrong.

Tell us a little about W.G. Sebald and "The Rings of Saturn": "The Rings of Saturn" is quite a singular book, a semi-fictional travelogue written by Sebald after he, or the book's Sebald character, suffers some kind of existential crisis of both the body and the spirit.  There is a marked focus on death and decay, which vacillates between acting in the text's foreground versus underlying one of the many excursions Sebald takes into topics as diverse as the cultivation of silkworms, Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson, the skull of Thomas Browne, and so forth.  These digressions often occur without warning, emerging suddenly from Sebald's walking journeys though the coast of England, exploring the subjects at great length, and disappearing just as quickly, either to return to Sebald's explorations or to descend another level into a different excursion.  There isn't ever a stated or implied goal, or a straightforward narrative of any kind, so what follows is always something of a surprise.  It's frustrating, tortuous, wonderful, and brilliant, and thoroughly unlike other books.

How do W.G. Sebald and "The Rings of Saturn" inspire you as artist?: It has been a terrific challenge to capture the mood of the text in just the right musical fashion.  There is this deep darkness underlying much of the book, but at the same time, there seems to me to be a real sense of wonder, and an appreciative astonishment at natural and manmade objects, systems, and environments.  So while this darkness is a great resource to draw on musically, there needs to be a balance.  Additionally, the shifting of focus and topical lines is an integral characteristic of the book.  I've found that one way to represent all three of these features is to create musical sections that shift unexpectedly between moods, either quickly or by the introduction of a dissonant element that undermines the harmonic ground and initiates a transition to another gesture or section. Incidentally, while working on the music for Sebald, I've also been working on another unrelated piece, a trio with electronics, for a group called First Construction.  I had initially expected that piece to follow one aesthetic path, but it turns out that the music for Sebald has had a huge influence on that piece's style, and totally changed the way it has emerged.  That piece is a bit more aggressive, free, and improvisatory, but has ended up sharing a great deal of the same musical vocabulary.  So the book has had a significant effect on my recent musical output.  (An observant friend also noted the delicious “First Construction” and “The Deconstructive Theatre Project” pairing.  Ha!)

What is the importance/relationship of memory and the wandering mind to you as an artist?: Memory is our own subjective collection of our experiences.  It helps us to process new material, giving us connotations and associations when presented with things we haven't seen before.  I think most artists have wandering and playful minds, because sometimes one has to sort through a lot of information before something sticks out as artistically relevant to our own style.  Once this happens, our memories become invaluable in drawing out meaning from this new artistic inspiration, and allows us to take it from an individual experience to once that is collectively relevant to many people.

What is it like exploring neuroscience through creativity?: The brain is one of the most complex individual units in existence.  Picking apart how it processes input, and for artists, particularly how it processes a work of art, is fascinating.  Searching for Sebald is exactly that: an exploration of interpretation and response via the creation of a new work, itself open to new interpretation and response.

Why Searching for Sebald now?: Sebald seems to be a natural progression for DTP, evolving from the explorations in The Orpheus Variations and other earlier productions.  But for me as a newcomer to the company without that back history, Sebald also seems somehow timeless, an exploration of an exploration of the most intimate musings on memory, life, and death.

What can we expect to see in Searching for Sebald?: A thoroughly unique theatrical multimedia meta-production!  This is a really special work, put on by an exceptional team, and I don't say that lightly.

Works in Progress: Searching for Sebald with Michelle Persoff

Name: Michelle Persoff

What is your role in Searching for Sebald?: Costume Designer

Tell us a little about Deconstructive Theatre Project?: What sets our company apart is the way we tell a story. We explore how the human mind grasps an experience and stores that memory for safekeeping. From a costume perspective, the touch of a fabric or the image of light shining through it is a trigger for a memory from years ago. We then use live film to project that image—a performer tugs at a silk tie laced around a collar—and the audience knows there was a wedding and the groom was nervous. We do not need dialogue to convey the message, and so our work tends to be more about manipulating images.

How is the creation process going so far?: Our rehearsals begin without a script, and in some ways, that can be unnerving. For me, the process is unlike any other show because I have no distinct characters to begin working on. From the beginning of rehearsals, there are only ideas, and you must be willing to focus on where the idea leads you creatively rather than try to push out a product. And in that way, this process has been very organic and freeing. I am only beginning to see my ideas take shape, and it is exciting to see how they will take form.

What is the developmental process like for you as an artist?: Usually when I am introduced to a new work, I read through whatever text I have—in this case it was "The Rings of Saturn"—and I look for an outstanding mood. The mood is the motif that I create on, and then I begin researching everything and anything that can stem from it whether it is a movie, place, or style of furniture. If I get the mood right, the clothes will compliment it.

What is it like working with mixed media? What are some challenges, benefits, risks etc.?: The biggest challenge for costumes is practicality. I can’t put big necklaces on people or let them wear delicate fabrics because they will catch on the equipment. You definitely have to pick and choose your battles, and you do a lot of compromising.

Tell us a little about W.G. Sebald and “The Rings of Saturn”: To me, Sebald was like the most interesting man in the world, but on a much quieter level. In "The Rings of Saturn", he goes on a walking tour along The North Sea, during which he meets strangers and explores deserted towns and recounts volumes of historical information covering everything from fishing towns to a conniving Chinese empress. Based on his tangential style of writing, I think he was the type of person who notices when you make a mistake but will not correct you. He does not seek to prove anything. He is comfortable and confident in his own skin, and to me, that is the most endearing part of his storytelling.

How does W.G. Sebald and “The Rings of Saturn” inspire you as artist?: It’s exciting to hear so much historical information in a conversational style rather than reading a textbook. When Sebald talks History, it holds a relevance that is hard to grasp from reading textbooks. While reading "The Rings of Saturn", I found myself wanting to go learn all I possibly could about the subjects he covers, and I think an artist needs to have that ongoing thirst for knowledge in order to continue to create and innovate.

What is the importance/relationship of memory and the wandering mind to you as an artist?: Costume ideas come to me by making connections from one reference to another. My mind has always wandered, but that wandering helps me catch hold of the mood I want to express for a show. For example, I see a dried flower—I think of a rose I put in a journal which makes me think of the bouquet it came from which (for any old reason) makes me think of Ms. Havisham from "Great Expectations". And then I’m off and running. I go watch the movie, read the book, research Charles Dickens, research weddings, research flowers, etc. etc. Yes, history is extremely important, but history is told through many voices, and so, many viewpoints. I thrive off of how people remember events because what they remember pulls the trigger to the next reference. Those triggers are the most valuable parts of good storytelling.

What is it like exploring neuroscience through creativity?: Rewardingly challenging. You don’t always realize what you’re thinking until you see it pulled apart in front of you. And when you pull it apart incorrectly, you can tell because you don’t recognize the thought as your own. The visual aids are what make these concepts tangible and it’s fascinating.

Why Searching for Sebald now?: I think we found a great challenge in Sebald. His mind spans such a huge breadth of information, and we’ve made it our task to condense it all into something that looks as natural as it was for him to think it. And when such an opportunity knocks, it’s hard for us not to answer.

What can we expect to see in Searching for Sebald?: Nostalgia through a modern lens. Quite literally, actually.

Works in Progress: Searching for Sebald with Sean Hanley

Name: Sean Hanley

What is your role in Searching for Sebald?: I am a new member of The Deconstructive Theatre Project, acting as the designer for analog film components in Searching for Sebald.

Tell us a little about The Deconstructive Theatre Project?: My first experience with The Deconstructive Theatre Project was doing video documentation of their premiere run of The Orpheus Variations at the Magic Futurebox in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.  Filming theatre is a common experience for an NYC videographer, and it's usually a one-night job.  I was used to setting up the camera in the back and filming the proscenium as it was presented to me.  But before filming for The Orpheus Variations, I was prompted to come two nights lest I miss any of the action. I knew there would be many components to the piece, but it wasn't until the night began I realized the task I had before me as a documentarian.  DTP makes theatre happen right in front of you.  As an audience member, you're asked to participate in the making of the piece with active eyes, ears, and a more active mind. In addition to the physical performance by the ensemble, DTP shows utilize live filmmaking, live Foley, props, movable sets, and dynamic lighting. I definitely needed those two nights to film the show because so much happened simultaneously that I had trouble keeping up with my camera!

How is the creation process going so far?: In the workshop process, the ensemble is in the midst of devising a series of sequences that incorporate all the elements of DTP's vocabulary, but new forSearching for Sebald is the use of 16mm and Super-8mm film footage shot along the coast of Suffolk during a trip Director Adam Thompson and Associate Director Meghan Kennedy took in November 2013.

What is the developmental process like for you as an artist?: As a filmmaker using analog film in my personal work, I'm eager to share the magic (and the frustration!) of using a linear and tactile moving image like analog film. The medium comes with its limitations, but I find in my own work, and my teaching of the format, that it breeds a different type of creativity when you have to think within its bounds.  I see that happening with the ensemble as they see the footage for the first time, then work with it using their hands to shape it into their devised sequences.

What is it like working with mixed media? What are some challenges, benefits, risks etc.?: The challenges of working with mixed media are often technical and require time and tinkering to find solutions.  The risks you take while working on analog film are jammed projectors and broken splices. But the benefits are the spectacular moments when the multimedia interact in a way they haven't before.  We're working on combining digital projection with analog projection, and sometimes the happy accidents become the solutions and lead you in a new direction.

Tell us a little about W.G. Sebald and “The Rings of Saturn”: The Rings of Saturn is a very visual book in both its descriptive language and simply the fact that Sebald intersperses the text with photographs.  You may be reading a passage about one location he's visiting, and then a few pages later see a black and white photograph of what may or may not be that location.  In this way, the experience of reading the book reminded me of my experience seeing the cine-essay San Soleil for the first time.  Directed by the unclassifiable French filmmaker, journalist, essayist Chris Marker, San Soleil is a meandering meditation on human memory and much like The Rings of Saturn, the audience is at the mercy of an unpredictable narrator.  The two texts, so to speak, can be re-watched and re-read multiples times, and upon each experience, more is drawn.

How does W.G. Sebald and “The Rings of Saturn” inspire you as artist?: Having not heard of Sebald's work upon the first reading of The Rings of Saturn, and having not read his other work yet, Sebald's free association style inspires me as an artist to draw on all my resources, influences, and dreams to create work that also has the liberty to wander.  I think I'll keep my experience of reading The Rings of Saturn with me even after work on Searching for Sebald is completed.

What is the importance/relationship of memory and the wandering mind to you as an artist?: I think I'll quote Albert Einstein here and say, "The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious.  It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science.  Whoever does not know it can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed."

What is it like exploring neuroscience through creativity?: As artists, we seek ways we can plug in our creativity to explore new ideas.  Neuroscience is a ground-breaking field that's 
teaching us about who we are as human beings.  There's no better way to explore that than by using our creativity to build something for others to plug into as well.

Why Searching for Sebald now?: Coming off the successful vocabulary devised during the The Orpheus Variations, DTP is looking to take it to the next level with Searching for Sebald, so now's the time to keep the momentum building.

What can we expect to see inSearching for Sebald?: In Searching for Sebald, one will see members of the ensemble operating 16mm and Super-8mm projectors in juxtaposition with digital imagery, live Foley, narration, and theatrical lighting to create a multimedia tapestry that evolves and grows through the performance. Everything will be happening all at once, all together, and it will be a dynamic experience for the audience.

Works in Progress: Searching for Sebald with Chapman Riedel

Name: Chapman Riedel

What is your role in Searching for Sebald?: I serve Searching For Sebald in two ways: I’m a member of the performance ensemble, and I also serve as DTP's Line Producer.

Tell us a little about Deconstructive Theatre Project?: The Deconstructive Theatre Project is a Brooklyn-based devised theatre laboratory that creates performance pieces collaboratively among the ensemble and design team. A large amount of our work explores the neuroscience of art and memory. We aim to tell our stories through nontraditional narratives using film, live Foley, practical lighting, and projection.
DTP is also a strong advocate of the power of theatre in the classroom. We have an educational arm of the company that has partnered with Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School to empower their students to tell stories and express themselves using the tools that DTP has pioneered and stylized in our own productions.

How is the creation process going so far?: We’re currently in Stage Two of our three-part development process. Our research and development phase happened this past fall, we’re currently establishing the tools and vocabulary needed to tell our story this spring, and this coming fall will see the shaping of the actual story we tell on stage in the final product.

What is the developmental process like for you as an artist?: I was a part of the producing team for our showing of The Orpheus Variations at HERE last summer, but this is the first piece I've had a hand in creatively developing from the beginning. It has been a revolutionary experience for me as an actor because DTP's process is like no other. Without a script establishing the skeleton of a production, you’re forced to trust your own instincts to create a compelling story that honors both the foundational text ("The Rings of Saturn", in this case), and also truthfully reflects your experiences and insights.

What is it like working with mixed media? What are some challenges, benefits, risks etc.?: All of DTP’s stage pictures are created using found objects, practical lighting, and interactive video imagery. As an actor, you have to become comfortable with all elements of that process, both technical and creative. It’s an entirely new skill set that you have to learn, develop, and manipulate. You never know how something you think up in your head will translate to the stage/screen using DTP’s signature style. That said, the design team and fellow actors have incredible expertise in this area and are always willing to lend a hand in service of your vision. The biggest risk is not trusting yourself to take one.

Tell us a little about W.G. Sebald and “The Rings of Saturn”: W.G. “Max” Sebald was a professor of European literature at the University of East Anglia, and was widely considered to be a future Nobel Prize winner before his untimely death in 2001.
He wrote "The Rings of Saturn" largely as an attempt to reconcile his German heritage with the horrors of World War II. Though the Holocaust of the mid-20th century is never overtly referenced in the book, Sebald indirectly alludes to the pogram through various historical metaphors, and uses the mechanism of a walk he took along the English countryside in the early 1990’s to structure his thoughts.

How does W.G. Sebald and “The Rings of Saturn” inspire you as artist?: Much like DTP itself, Sebald has a style that is uniquely his own. It evolved as a result of his genetics, his upbringing, and his personal history. Sebald’s literary approach couldn’t be more compelling as a means to communicate thought and emotion. It’s nonlinear, multidisciplinary, and— most importantly— his. If I’ve learned anything through my new relationship with the works of Sebald and this development process it’s that one’s perspective matters, one’s history has value, and anything worth saying can be strengthened and made more powerful through collaboration with nurturing friends and colleagues.

What is the importance/relationship of memory and the wandering mind to you as an artist?: Memory is everything to us— it shapes the way we interact with the world. That interaction can certainly be broadened through introspection and development, but memory is the basis. The wandering mind is our brain’s way of processing and creating (hopefully) outside of the gravity of our personal histories. Once you can reconcile the freedom of your unbounded mind with your unedited history, you’re in a place of limitless artistic possibility.

What is it like exploring neuroscience through creativity?: There are two very different sides to neuroscience. The first is the clinical end with axons, dendrites, and neurotransmitters. I’m not much help in that department… The other side is more intuitive. If we pay a little attention to how we think and process information, we start to gain an accessible yet invaluable understanding of how we see and interact with the world. Once you have a small understanding of how your brain works in and of itself, you can start the process of creating things outside of your own mind with greater ease and enjoyment. Creativity really is a mysterious yet complimentary extension of our brain’s microscopic electrical network.

Why Searching for Sebald now?: Searching For Sebald is all about how a group of people understand and interact with a given text. It’s about taking our individual experience with a story and making something bigger and more profound by coupling that independent perspective with those of our peers. The time is always ripe for a project with a goal such as that.

What can we expect to see in Searching for Sebald?: That’s a wonderful question, and the answer is: I’m not sure yet. At this point we’re working on developing our vocabulary for the piece rather than crafting the actual story we’ll end up telling on stage. The story will come, just not quite yet. What I can tell you is you’ll see all of the distinctive performance tools that are DTP’s signature including live filmmaking, innovative projections, practical props and lighting, and a new, through composed musical score. For those of you not already following our journey on social media, I encourage you to check out #searchingforsebald on Instagram for an exclusive peek at our exciting new piece.