Reassembled, Slightly Askew: Immersive Storytelling Through Sound

Abstract

Reassembled, Slightly Askew (RSA) is an audio theatre work which takes the audience through the visceral and embodied experience of Shannon Yee (Sickels) as she lives through a catastrophic brain infection and surgery, and eventually (as the title indicates) reassembles herself, and familiarizes herself with her acquired brain injury. Audience members experience RSA lying in hospital beds, wearing eyemasks and headphones. Sonically you, as audience member, are situated within the body of Shannon. Your focus is directed to the corporeal experience as told through sound and spoken text, providing a first-person perspective on the experience of acquiring an invisible disability. The project broke new methodological ground for the interdisciplinary artistic team, requiring a high level of collaboration and interweaving of the artists’ respective expertise: writing, directing, choreography, sound design and dramaturgy. Throughout the process of exploration and making, a seamless relay happened naturally as to which art form was leading in the discoveries and decisions. In this dossier, the artists replicate this relay to share insights from their own perspective in the creation of the project and its particular challenges in developing a highly visceral and corporeal experience through sound.