In 1984, the CIA conducted an experiment on remote viewing as part of Project Stargate.
The transcript of this experiment, released via a freedom of information request, is the source of all spoken text. Adapted into a project that is part verbatim performance, part guided meditation – an exploration of the landscapes of outer and inner space.
You can view the piece selecting from two video options below. The first is caption free and is recommended to watch with headphones. The second video has captions which have been added to create a better viewing experience for those who need or prefer to use captions.
Warning: this piece contains moments of high-pitched feedback.
Mars Exploration: May 22, 1984
without captions
Mars Exploration: May 22, 1984
with captions
Innovation Studio Discussion:
Mars Exploration and Online Performance – 28 September
What happens when theatre artists no longer have theatres? How do we collaborate when we can’t be in the same room?
It’s in our nature to treat restriction and limitation as creative opportunities and so many of us have begun making work online during the Covid 19 pandemic. This is both a new site and a new form. In this space, where does the art happen? Theatre and film both have their answers, but are those answers best for this medium?
With these questions in mind, Marc Silberschatz, Dani Nelson and Derek Jeck set out to make Mars Exploration: May 22, 1984. Adapted from the transcript of an actual CIA experiment into a piece that is part verbatim performance, part guided meditation. This piece will premiere here, on RCS at Home on 25 September 2020 at 1pm.
A discussion with the artists, chaired by Flavia Domingues D’Avila, will try to unpack what was learned and discovered in the project in the first of this season’s Innovation Studio Discussions which are online and free to join.