A history of everything

Jonathan adam
Commencement slot

Production Workshop
Application for the Downstairs Space
NAME: Jonathan Adam
CLASS YEAR: 2016
PHONE NUMBER: 401-209-5681
If you cannot be reached by phone immediately after the meeting, would you prefer
we:

CALL BACK
TITLE OF PROJECT: A History of Everything
AUTHOR (if applicable): (Originally conceived by Ontroerend Goed)
PROPOSAL BOARD BUDDY: Andrew Ganem; Shadow: Ben Silver
SLOT PREFERENCE:
(*note: you are only proposing for one of the below seasons)
Spring:

2nd slot is over Commencement

IS THERE A SLOT YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO ACCEPT?

April Slot
REQUIRED STAFF (include name and year):
Set Designer: Max McInnis (RISD) 18
Lighting Designer: Luke Denton 18
Sound Designer: Brendan Bongi 16
Costume Designer: Sofia Kadieva 16
ADDITIONAL STAFF:
Bailey Life 17: Stage Manager
(Tentative): Sabina Kariat (RISD) 18: Props
PLEASE NOTE By submitting this application it is understood that you
have acquired rights by contacting a board member: I contacted
Joshua Cape.
PROPOSAL: Please attach proposal and any other appendices.
Introduction
Theater is a place for investigation. We can investigate the whole
gamut of human emotions: love, fear, solitude, anger, embarrassment,
or sadness. We can investigate the nature of movement, of sound, or
of speech. We can investigate social problems that we experience
within the world around us, such as racism, environmental issues, or
violence. The black box of the theater has the power and potential to
act as a lens to magnify any issue or aspect of our world that we wish.
The theatrical process I would like to undertake investigates
history, and time in general. How has our past shaped the world
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around us? How do we remember our past? Why are certain events or
people remembered and celebrated and others mere footnotes in our
collective conscience? How significant have I been within my lifetime
so far? How significant has all of humanity been within the lifetime of
the universe? How can we approach comprehending history, the world,
the universe, when we are just such small specks in the vastness that
is the passage of time?
Our investigation into history will culminate in us having written
a history of everything. In about one hundred minutes, we will blaze a
trail from our present day back to the beginning of time itself. I hope to
bring to PW an attempt to come to grips with our world, its past, and
our own personal place in it: how we are both instrumental to, and yet
simultaneously completely insignificant within, the greater scheme of
history.
Description of the Performance
The stage is incredibly sparse, but for a giant world map laid out over
the floor and a projection on the back wall of todays date. Seven
performers enter, and start announcing various events of the day:
obituaries, marriages, news headlines, and gossip. As the projected
date moves backwards in time, the performers move across the globe,
chaotically explaining, quoting or re-enacting various historical events.
We experience the moon landing, the two world wards, the release of
Casablanca, the colonization of Africa, all in reverse order. As the
backwards timer accelerates, the performance grows more and more
abstract and image-based. We see Renaissance paintings restaged;
witches burnt at the stakes; plagues; Crusades. We regress through
ancient civilizations and find ourselves at the root of civilization itself.
Then, we find ourselves going backwards through the evolution of man.
The stage becomes serene as we progress in retrograde through the
first forms of life on earth. We zoom, away from the earth to see our
entire solar system when it first formed. We keep going, faster and
faster through time, rewinding through the birth of galaxies, until
finally we arrive at that time and space before time and space were
even real entities. The show ends in an attempt to convey how the
universe began: in a flash of blindingly bright light.

Overview of the Process

Casting
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Where most theatrical productions hone in on the lives of a few

main characters, this show operates on a macroscopic, global scale
and therefore requires a different attitude from the actors. My ideal
performer is a curious, engaged scholar in rehearsal and a child
playing dress-up on stage, and in the audition process I will aim to look
out for both these qualities. I will present people with various stories
(historical or fictional) and will ask them to convey them to me in
various ways, as they might occur in History: announcing the events
like a public speaker; taking salient quotes and imitating the speakers;
body language; interacting with some basic props. I will also ask
people about their academic and life interests: what topics and issues
do they consider important, and would they bring into our writing of
history? It is crucial that there is a wide spread in ideas, in the hope
that at every step on the way through history we can hope to have
someone nearby who has at least some knowledge on where we are.
Callbacks would continue in a similar vein but would also shift
focus into ensemble work. A significant feature of History would be
using live tableaux to establish certain landmarks in photography and
art history, so in assembling a cast I would challenge performers in
terms of body and spatial awareness and mutual collaboration.
Rehearsal Process
Research will be the driving notion behind the creation period of
History. Different aspects of the show will require different skills or
ideas to be explored, but at every step of the way we will be mindful to
delve deep into the matters at hand and be rigorous in examining
various options and making informed choices about how to present
material on stage. One strand of activity throughout the process will be
the mass amalgamation of historical facts and anecdotes to load into
our show. Everyone will have to contribute at some point and this
research will not stop for the duration of the run of our show. Our script
will be a forever growing entity of historical facts.
Another strand of research consists of performance research,
with various specific foci. For every historical fact we consider
pertinent, we will have to figure out how to convey it within the
performance. Particular moments will go through various iterations
before public showings: we may begin with presenting an event by a
mere announcement, but we may change our mind and decide there is
a strong visual element that we can bring forth and shift to that. We
may then find that the event becomes too significant or is taking up
too much time and therefore obstructing the pacing of that particular
historical period, and may consider switching it back to an
announcement or by presenting it through a quote from a major
historical player. As soon as our work takes to staging, the team must
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become incredibly mindful about how each piece functions within the
collage of the whole, and we will constantly be asking ourselves to
delve into the pieces and figure out whether they present the material
in the most effective way possible.
A particularly salient part of this performance research will be
figuring out how the later sections work theatrically. These sections
deal with natural history: evolution and eventually the creation of the
universe. They provide unique challenges in terms of staging: historical
time is presented at a faster speed than at any point previously in the
show, yet the pace of the show becomes intentionally glacial. The
performance shifts away from words into a realm of movement and
abstraction in an attempt to convey those aspects of history that we
can only grasp at. Other parts of the show will already require us to
consider the physics and choreography of our movements in space (to
create tableaux, to evoke historical figures, to symbolize various
historical trends) but these sections specifically I imagine really having
to devote significant time to of pure movement research. This may be
just outside of the usual comfort zone of many theatrical performers
not accustomed to dance, and it will be interesting to negotiate not
just the choreography but also how to transition organically from the
heavy text-based material in the beginning to this more distilled
physical language. Again, this will be an iterative, researched process,
which may have us settling for one thing one day only to have us
revisit it a little later, once we more fully see how it operates within the
show. Every moment in the show will be deliberate and have a specific,
researched function.
Use of the Text
The text that Ontroerend Goed has published is a snapshot of
one particular performance that they carried out of the History they
wrote. Early on, the company suggests that anyone recreating the
performance should assemble their own collection of facts, and not just
blindly follow the script. I believe the power and importance of this
show rests in that it forces a group of performers to confront what they
consider important and memorable, and how they themselves occupy
a role within the timeline of history. I fully intend to sit down with my
team and generate our own timeline of history throughout the process,
starting from a blank page and adapting the script as we go along.
Every performance as well will force us to change at the very least the
first few minutes of the show, which literally deal with the days of and
immediately preceding the performance. I do not anticipate doing a full
read-through of the script that is provided to us, as I feel it would be
counterproductive: the script is not written in easily performable form
and ultimately, I envision our role not as parrots but as restagers.

However the text will be used extensively for various aspects. We

will adhere to the section headings presented by the company, which
split up time into various discrete components, each with a different
performative focus. Section 1, for example, is primarily facts-laden,
whereas section 2 relies more heavily on presenting historical trends
visually, a pattern which becomes more and more pronounced through
section 5. I do anticipate giving performers access to the script in order
to get a sense of how the show works (in the hands of Ontroerend
Goed) and to start people thinking about how exactly to respond to the
prompt that each section brings up.
I also imagine retaining still some aspects of the text almost
literally. Between the sections are a series of monologues which ground
the ideological underpinnings of the show and explicitly touch upon the
themes of History. I personally am quite taken by these texts and
imagine to keep them verbatim however, I remain open to the idea
that during the research process our team comes to a different
conclusion. I have a similar feeling about many of the technical
directions in the script. Particularly sound is quite prescribed, with song
titles and playing times explicitly listed in the script. I would tentatively
consider running along with these unless an alternative is found during
performance. (The matter of the songs is actually a little less trivial
than initially seems. In the final sections there is an apparent
disconnect between how long the pieces are and how sparse the text
becomes. This discrepancy gives us an indication of how the pacing of
the show slows down, and invites us to think about how to depict the
slowness of evolution and the physical origins of the universe.)
Schedule
I imagine this will be a 5 or 6-week research process, which will be
quite intense and hands-on. Due to the collaborative nature of the
show, people would be expected to come in on quite a regular basis.
Because I mentioned this is a research driven process, Im a little
hesitant to pin down exactly how time will be spent. What I do know is
that the show will come to life layer by layer: we will quite early on
have an initial groundwork idea of the show, and rehearsals from then
on will either become stop-and-start run-throughs/work-throughs of the
show, or hone in on particular sections that require more analysis.
Week of April 15th: First Rehearsals. Focus on: huge brainstorming
sessions trying to map out entire history; movement exercises and
tableaux creation on the basis of historical images.
Week of April 20th: Focus on the events in Section 2 and 3. Regular runthroughs of the first section as well. More movement exercises.
Week of April 27th. Move to the space. Focus on Sections 4 and 5 and a
big push on general blocking.
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May 1 Design Run 1

Week of May 4th: Solidification of the script and the events, and the
incorporation of tableaux.
May 8 Design Run 2
Week of May 8th: Show run-throughs and troubleshooting. What
sections still feel incomplete? What movement sequences are
awkward?
May 15 Final Design Run + Paper Tech
May 16 Wet Tech
May 17 -19 Tech Week
May 20-23 Performances

Design Philosophy
This play frames theater as a place of research and investigation,
and the design of the show will be more restricted than usual in that
well have to work closely together to establish a look and feel that
establish that idea. The shows design should seem minimalist and
basic in order to highlight the actions of the performers as the great
driving force of the show: they are not mere pawns in this show, they
are the driving force of history. As such, design choices will have to be
very deliberate.
Set, for example, is responsible for creating a world map out of
some sort of durable fabric that can stand a little manhandling. All the
audience will see in terms of set is this white world map on the PW
floor, and a black bar at the back of the stage hiding the props tables.
No effort should be made to pretend this is not the PW downspace:
after all, we want to remember that this is a work of theater that we
are using to find out about the world.
Lights begins in a warm, neutral pose. The whole stage should be
washed in a plain, bright light. As history moves on, though, lights gets
more leeway and can experiment a little more, but to stay in line with
the overall feel of the show I want to keep the color palette incredibly
minimal. There is a progressive trend towards darkness (representing
our weaker and weaker grasp of historical accuracy) until the final
section, where almost all stage lighting is replaced by some sort of
handheld lights manipulated by the performers representing the
planets.
Sound, as mentioned before, starts off with exactly none. The
stage directions give specific instructions to songs played at certain
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times, and I intend tentatively to follow these, as these suggestions

frame certain sections as more choreographed or theatrical than
others.
Costumes for the entire cast will be an all-black uniform;
Ontroerend Goed suggests using hoodies with lots of pockets for props.
Costumes and props will have to work closely together because we will
need a huge number of accessories: wigs to denote historical figures,
little sleeves, collars or other accessories to portray different elements
of history.
Props is the only place where the designers may go crazy, but
even then, design choices must be deliberate. An idea worth
considering from Ontroerend Goed is the use of some highly specific
props in a consistent way. For all assassinations they use the same toy
gun; all wars on earth are labeled with the same type of little flag; any
revolutionary movement uses the same banner.
An important note about design is that the schedule will probably
be a little more front-loaded than usual. Due to the simple nature of
the set (continents made out of fabric), I hope to have one quite soon
when we enter the space as it is an important component in the later
parts of the show. Lights and Sound will operate generally on their
usual schedule, though lights may be called in to help work on the
planets scene as a consultant or technical assistant. Props, though,
will have to follow closely along with what we plan to present in the
show. Well have to remain on top of the props demands in order to
adequately rehearse the logistics of having that many items to work
with.
Budget Breakdown
The specific demands of this show demand a lightly different
budget breakdown. Depending on how expensive fabric for the set
turns out to be we might have to shift things around. Props has a
bigger budget than usual, because it is a more significant design
element than in other plays.
Set: 400 $
Costumes: 200 $
Props: 80$
Lights: 20$
Printing: 50$
This may still not be enough for props but it will definitely get us
started and force us to think creatively. I hope that props can
appropriate some of costumes budget and potentially be
supplemented with grants.

The Director
About Myself
Most people at PW know me best as a sound person, but in my
weaker moments I imagine I am also qualified to do other things. At
Brown, I have mostly stuck to the technical aspect of shows: sounds,
sometimes lights, and even a brief stint as a stage manager. This
background role is definitely not a result of my lack of interest in
performing: before coming to the U.S. I was heavily involved as a
dancer in a dance theater company, and even now when I go back to
Belgium in the holidays I try to engage in some shape or form with
performance projects recruiting volunteers as performers. The reason I
have stayed away from performing at Brown is simply because I have
little experience with theater repertoire, and I simply felt I had more to
offer, and more to learn, using my time here to gain technical skill. My
fascination with theater grew out of pieces devised by particular
companies, or loose reinterpretations of existing theater, or pieces that
strayed away from the theatrical norm in any number of ways. I may
be a fish out of the water when it comes to scripts and line delivery,
but when it comes to sitting down and creating a show from the ground
up, I feel up for the challenge.
I directed for Brown Opera Productions last spring, a Philip Glass
opera named Hydrogen Jukebox. The show was an incredibly
challenging experience: the music was tough for actors to learn and
there was no plot to speak of. We had to figure out a language to
convey abstract ideas on stage which was heavily gestural and
expressionist. The experience definitely showed me that I am able to
take difficult theatrical premises and engage with them in a meaningful
way. This skill will be useful in History, where I imagine a similar
process will have to occur to translate real-world events of huge scale
to images and text that can be conveyed on top of a toy map by six
performers. Particularly the latter sections, where the show tackles
evolution and physics, are right up the Hydrogen Jukebox alley when it
comes to abstraction and inscribing meaning into mathematical
choreography.
Hydrogen Jukebox was also an enormous logistical challenge. We
had issues with actors dropping out en masse in just the first week of
performance, Alumnae Hall proved to be a nightmare to work in, and
Health and Safety all but shut us down during tech week. Yet somehow
we still managed to put on a show. The experience taught me not just
a lot about directing but also showed me that I can be incredibly
pragmatic about problem solving. I cannot anticipate all that would go
wrong with History (as always seems to happen, these things turn out
a lot larger than originally imagined) but I do think that I can keep my
cool, and deal with obstacles in a responsible way. I hope that I can
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create an environment - both in rehearsal and for the production team

where people feel they can do their job and be respected when they
run into problems.
My Role
Because of this shows different tone, as a director, I have to
provide different guidance. I am not there to facilitate peoples
character explorations or psychological conflict. Instead, I have to
inspire people to research further. I am faced with an interesting
balancing act because on the one hand I will have to ensure people
keep looking into the history but on the other hand I need people to
come out more and more on stage. I hope to initiate the rehearsal
process with an intensive look into factual history and then hope to
keep that momentum going during the month-long process.
Another fine line I have to tread is between a decisive and an
open-ended director. Ultimately it will be mostly in the casts hand to
determine what the content of the show will be; there is no point in
doing this show if I impose what people should consider historically
memorable. However, I do consider that I should encourage people to
look beyond what they already know or assume, to point out things
they might have missed. This becomes relevant especially when we
are researching staging: as the outside eye I might notice patterns or
things that may work better if structured in a different way, or if certain
elements are more recurrent. Ultimately, I do not aspire to be the most
charismatic person in the rehearsal space and hope that performers
will get into a routine of initiative of stopping the show themselves
during rehearsals, and engage in conversations with each other
instead of me about certain aspects. But I do hope to be an invaluable
tool to the production: I want to be both the biggest motivator and the
most helpful editor in the room.
When it comes to designers, I feel my experience as a sound
designer will help me significantly in conveying the necessities for the
production team. Having sat through many a production meeting and
tech weekend, I have some idea of what particular designers need to
know of the director, what sort of vocabulary to use, what sort of
issues to anticipate and how to convey appreciation and critique work
done by various members of the design team. Especially in this show,
where design is more specific than in other shows, I feel it is important
to communicate clearly, accurately and specifically with designers, and
make them feel comfortable and respected.
A History of Everything at PW, at Commencement
I feel that History is a show that will resonate with Brown
University, and I feel that PW is the place where it should be shown.
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From a how big is this show? perspective alone History should

claim the Downspace. Even though the technical requirements are
minimal, the narrative scope of this show has literally never been done
before at Brown. Walking into this black box is a psychological
transition that will prove invaluable for audience members to truly
engage with the events on the stage as a view on the world outside of
this space. It is important that the space that this is performed in feels
like a theater, and the Downspace provides this feeling.
This show belongs at PW by virtue of its experimental, researchbased approach. There are many outlets for student theater at Brown,
ranging from Shakespeare to musical theater. If somebody wants to
take a script and stage an existing text, there are many outlets to do
so. This show takes a different premise, essentially starting from just a
template and filling that template in as we go along. As a student-run
theater, PW needs to actively encourage experimentation and
theatrical diversity. We need a space on campus to invest in new ideas
and approaches to theater. The theater population at Brown needs to
be challenged continuously, not just by staging classics or much-loved
theater, but also by being accommodating to shows out of the
mainstream, performances that dare go out on a limb in pursuit of an
idea. PW is one of the few places that we have access to where it
should be possible to take risks, and I think it is a crucial role of the
organization to foster this atmosphere. History is a risky project, and is
in a way set up to fail: of course we wont be able to portray a history
of everything. But it is exactly this failure, and the quest towards it,
that make it a play worth watching.
History fits at Brown because ultimately, it is what binds us all at
this school. We are all intellectually driven to find out more about the
world around us. While we all take different intellectual avenues and
lenses to examine this world, we Brown students have a common
sense of curiosity. This show exploits that curiosity to create a show
from the ground up, and allows performers and audience alike to
project their own visions of the world onto this show. Performers will
have to make certain choices about history, and audience members
will wonder why they agree or protest certain choices. More than a
show about particular people in a particular time and place, History
allows many people to engage with the material as it is pertinent to all
of us in some way, and opens up conversations about why certain
groups or people are represented in one way or another.
I will only ever propose this show for commencement slot. This
show asks questions about what we remember, and why we remember
it; what we consider important, and what we forget about in the large
scheme of things; who we aspire to be; and who we were; how
significant we are, and how insignificant we always will be.
Commencement has audience members in the right mindset to engage
in the show. Some may be grappling with what to do with the
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knowledge theyve collected in the world at large. Others may be

wondering how to make their life meaningful. Others may wonder what
they learned in the past four years or more. Others still might be
wondering how they will be looking back at this moment. It is a rare
moment that an audience can come in in exactly the right state of
mind to hear the message of this show, and hopefully this show can
respond to their mindset in a significant way. It is my hope to show
people both how meaningful their time on earth is, and simultaneously
how insignificant, and how beautiful that paradox is.
Closing thoughts
A History of Everything does not set out to revolutionize how we
perceive history. While I hope that by assembling a good team we
might bring forward some underrepresented aspects of the story of the
universe to the present day, ultimately, the show hinges on people
recognizing the events on stage, remembering them, remembering
reading about them, and only just giving them enough time to think
about them before moving progressively faster backwards through
time. Its a cruel game that we play on the stage, but its the same
cruel game that we are forced to deal with in the real world, in real
history. We drag along more and more baggage forever trudging
forward, and its hard to take a moment, to stop, think, measure out
what we have and say:
Weve come this far.

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