The Book of Separation

An immersive journey with a friend deep into a story custom built for two. Step with Odyssey Works into an entirely new kind of remote performance

Press Contact: Duff Norris, producer@odysseyworks.org

Show Page – Previews June 10-17 – Opens June 17

“What would you do,” asks the voice on the phone, “if your friend weren’t in your life anymore?” It’s the last question in the interview, the one the interview has been building towards. You answer, knowing that everything you’ve offered will be used to design your friend’s journey and that your friend is now answering the very same questions for you.

And then the experience begins. You in your home, with your computer and your phone; your friend in theirs. You step into a bookshop, find The Book, then fall through its pages into the story of a land beset by a Curse of Separation. Will you be able to find a cure? Will your friend? Your search takes you around the world, to places both fanciful and real. At times you are right there with your friend, guiding one another. At times you are far apart, but always you are on the journey together.

A paradigm shift in participatory, immersive performance, The Book of Separation utilizes OneThing, a brand new performance platform, to unlock the internet’s potential to customize and connect. Drawing on a deep archive of travel videos from around the world, the experience is embodied, interactive, and deeply personal. No Zoom, no headsets, just you and a friend, leading each other deep into a story together, whether you are in the same house or timezones apart.

Renowned for its exhaustively-researched performances for one-person audiences, Odyssey Works has spent the past twenty years redefining what it means to make transformative experiences. The Book of Separation marks the first time since its inception that Odyssey Works has created work for a wider audience.

—A Serendipitous Beginning—

The project emerged in the early days of COVID lockdown from a question: what would it be to make a performance that is not adapted to the internet but native to it? That takes advantage of the unique connectivity and personalization that is its lifeblood? The call, between Odyssey Works Artistic Director Abraham Burickson, and Paul Farnell and Sophie Larsmon of London’s AnyOneThing, had been meant to be a social call to see how everyone was doing with lockdown. Three years earlier, Farnell had flown to New York to attend a workshop with Burickson, returning to London thereafter and leaving his career in tech to start a theater company dedicated to personalized performances. He then sent Artistic Director Sophie Larsmon to help create an Odyssey in upstate New York. A few months after she returned to London, a real Curse of Separation washed over the planet. “What do you think?” asked Burickson.

“I think we need to make it happen,” said Farnell.

A year later, The Book of Separation offers both a poetic meditation on what makes us close and an exploration of how we return from this year of separation.

Press Contact: Duff Norris, producer@odysseyworks.org

Tickets available now for North American and UK timezones at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-book-of-separation-tickets-149576853395

Trailer and more info on the show page: www.odysseyworks.org/separation

Written by Abraham Burickson, featuring the voices of Kaya Vision, Megan Livingston, and Ursula Marcum, and original graphics by Ana Tobin. Original score by Travis Weller. Dramaturg: Sophie Larsmon. Technical Director: Paul Farnell. Show Developer: Annie Walsh. OneThing Developer: Dan Avramescu. Videos by Kees Colijn, Biofilia, and others. Copyright 2021, Odyssey Works.

Download the Press Release Here.

All images copyright 2021 Odyssey Works. Available for use by press and for promotional purposes.

Press images below for use in reviews. All images, videos, and downloadable audio clips copyright Odyssey Works, 2021