Interview of Thom Sokoloski by Sandra Alland for the Theatre Centre quarterly "Spew"
The Death of Virgil: Water/The Arrival
- an immersive operatic experience -
by the Duchamps Brothers
(Thom Sokoloski & Michael White)
| Thom Sokoloski, founding Artistic Director of Autumn Leaf Performance, is a difficult person to get in touch with. Not surprising, considering his list of engagements around the globe. He has directed the majority of his company's productions, and initiated SONiC BOOM, a highly successful series of contemporary music culture. In 1996, he directed multimedia productions for the Belgium contemporary orchestra I Fiamminghi, which toured Holland and Belgium. He is also director and librettist for "Electric Flesh," an electroacoustic opera by Wende Bartley that will premiere at the Musique-en-Scène Festival next year in France. Unable to arrange an interview before Thom flew to Europe, I resorted to e-mail as our means of contact. Although electronic communication is not as immediate as other forms of interaction, we managed to have a virtual conversation about Autumn Leaf's multimedia theatrical experiments. With his upcoming workshop presentation, Thom is creating the new out of the old. "The Death of Virgil: Water/The Arrival" explores Virgil's captivation by the song of a young boy during his journey to Rome with the completed "Aeneid." Yet Thom insists that he is not returning to the classics: "This aspect of Virgil is unknown, therefore new. What makes something classic is not the subject but the themes and structures. Look at how we have come to re-interpret war in the cinema and sculpture in the museum and the family in the home." The structure of "The Death of Virgil" is certainly new for Theatre Centre audiences. The piece has a fragmented narrative, Arabic chanting, display cases, photography, musical and environmental soundscapes, and twenty blue-skinned dancers who create a breathing sea. The audience members will sit on the benches of Virgil's ship, an element intended to make them part of the play instead of mere spectators: "Rather than a reaction to the work, I am looking more for an openness, an entering into. We are not trying to finish the work in any way but rather propose it to the audience as potential for a new kind of dramatic experience that immerses one in the context rather than the narrative." The soundscape for the piece will consist of Broch's German text ("The Death of Virgil"), interspersed with fragments of its translation. Michael White will utilize samples and imports to engineer a computer adaptation and remix of Barraqué's orchestral composition, "Chant aprés chant." The final layering will consist of additional aural inventions by White, and a live performance by soprano Linda Karry. Audience members can look forward to being completely submerged in this evocation of Virgil's final hours. - Sandra Alland Additional unedited interview discussion: Sandra: There is a great deal of excitement at the Theatre Centre concerning your upcoming production. I think people will be fascinated not only by its unconventional theatrical style, but also quite simply by its size. Have you worked with large numbers of dancers/actors before? What are some of the challenges that you foresee with this piece, especially in the relatively small space at the Theatre Centre? Sokoloski: The size of the TC is a limitation but it does not prevent the ideas of an immersive work of art from being immersive and tested. We are not trying to finish the work in any way but rather propose it to the audience as potential for a new kind of dramatic experience that immerses one in the context rather than the narrative. In the cinema we are immersed in a darkened room with a bright screen. We succumb to the images which support the intrigue of the narrative, ergo cinematic drama. We do not, as we do in real life, get the opportunity to pull out, to objectify ourselves within the experience and imagine that particular instant of artistic artifice as a momentary transcendence of what we are experiencing and what we have personally experienced. Tarkovsky may be the only exception. There are others but he really succeeds in my opinion. Peter Mettler, too. In a theatre there is Hillar and at times Brooks. Sandra: I understand that this will be an uncommon experience for the audience, with a fragmented memory-like narrative, Arabic chanting, display cases, photography, musical and environmental soundscapes, and 75 dancers who will create a breathing sea. What is the journey you want to take the audience on? What sort of reaction do you anticipate? Sokoloski: Rather than a reaction to the work, I am looking more for an openness, an entering into. Presently, I am not sure if I will have 10 dancers or 20 dancers. I see a maximum of 40 to 50 spectators with at lest one as an escort per two spectators. The human sea will depend on the bodies ready to be nude. I just can't imagine the work without nudity. Sandra: Many artists are inspired by a return to the classics. What sparked your initial impulse to do so, and why did you choose Virgil? Sokoloski: I wouldn't say this is a return to the classics. This aspect of Virgil is unknown. Therefore, new. When we talk to our lover whom we think we know, it becomes all new when we find out about this lover's affair since the first year of a 5-year marriage. Someone else has shared the secrecy of what we thought was an intimate possession. What does that mean? Have we been in a realm of comparison? What makes something classic is not the subject but the themes and structures. Look at how we have come to reinterpret war in the cinema and sculpture in the museum and the family in a home. Sandra: What intrigues you specifically about Broch's text? How much of it are you using for the piece? Sokoloski: The text is poetry. James Joyce helped get Broch out of Austria when the Nazis clamped down on the intellectuals. He ended up at Yale teaching mass psychology and finishing off another four books. The soundscape will consist of his text being read in German in order to enter the sonic music of poetic language. Its translation will come in fragments, it's meaning through "confluences," an R. Murray Schafer term. Sandra: Will you use Barraqué's music in both halves of the production, or only in the second part when the musicians perform the concert? Was Barraqué writing specifically about Virgil, or did you select his compositions for a different reason? What kind of music are you expecting from Michael White? Sokoloski: In this production we will not be able to perform the orchestrated version; six full percussion units, a 9-foot grand and a soprano would fill the entire TC. Michael will do a computer adaption of the piece maintaining the scoring so that Linda can sing. He will sample and import and create a re-mix. It might be interesting to hear the new Reich re-mix CD which believe is the future of the classics. The rest of Michael's work will be soundscaping and sculpting much in the same manner as we did in the "The Anxiety of Immortality" at the ROM. |