Monologues and meandering narratives and poems and readings and whistled riffs are the wanton way of this busking storyteller. Redacting Rosslyn (aka Redacting Rosslyn Redux) is one part stand-up and one part fall down, one part entertainment and one part confession, one part creative writing workshop and one part group therapy. Enter at your own risk!
A little reminder, because, some days, we all need just a little reminder. A gentle, timely nudge. A whisper in the ear. An arm around the shoulders. A compassionate eye-to-eye pause. Work. But don’t forget to live.
Daily Reminder (Photo: Geo Davis)
Inside my medicine cabinet, open in the photograph above, printed on a small piece of paper, secured to the back of the mirror with an aging, and possibly-soon-failing piece of tape, a simple but timely reality check. Each morning. Each evening.
Don’t Circled Reminder (Photo: Geo Davis)
Lest you missed it in the first photograph, I’ve singled it out with green marker. It’s actually a tiny “fortune“ from a teabag.
Don’t Forget to Live (Photo: Geo Davis)
Maybe you too need this is quick reminder. Work, but don’t forget to live.
I collaborated with John Brookhouse of 1o’Clock Multimedia on a “long winded” but amusing Google Search vignette which was part of Redacting Rosslyn v1.0 at The Depot Theatre in Westport, New York in August 2011. Although I concepted the content and story arc, and even most of the search queries, Brookhouse was the video maestro who morphed my vision into a far more creative story than I could have managed on my own.
Google Assisted Renovation
The idea of a digital story about the role the interwebs played in Rosslyn’s renovation had been with me for a while. Google, above all others had been my constant companion, mentor, coach and materials source. I’m certain we couldn’t have successfully undertaken such an ambitious project with such limited experience, etc. in the pre-interwebs dark ages. Or even in the pre-Google days. Do you remember those days? Crinkly paper with sepia images locked up in libraries far away just when you need them most. Bleak.
Google Search Stories
Google Search Coupon: 1 FREE Google Search (Photo credit: Bramus!)
So the vision for the story had been composting in piles of typed words until I saw the inspired and inspiring “Parisian Love” video which was an instant viral sensation.
Finally I had a way to tell my story! I experimented with the Google Search Stories tool, creating a slew of clunky Rosslyn search videos. Soon I realized that I needed a collaborator with more sophisticated videography chops. Brookhouse was a patient and enjoyable collaborator. We’ll continue to work together in the future. Not only did he produce the clever video above for me to use in my performance, he helped educate me about video storytelling. At the time I was a video rote amateur. Now I’m just an amateur, in the French sense, a lover of video. Though I’m still a largely unskilled lover of video, I’ve begun to appreciate its nuances, limitations and unique storytelling potential.
Multimodal Storytelling
I’m especially intrigued with the interplay of traditional (oral) storytelling, print/text storytelling ,and digital storytelling. I believe we’re entering a time where we’ll see further and further blending of multimodal storytelling. This is especially exciting for me in the case of Rosslyn which includes years of photographs, drawings and a vast cast of engaging if somewhat eccentric characters. The opportunity to dilate this narrative beyond the limits of pages, books and oral storytelling is compelling. The opportunity for a more interactive storytelling matrix invites collaboration among many instead of one solitary writer scribbling away from the limited crow’s nest of his own head.
Thanks for diving into Rosslyn’s story. Together we’ll do her proud.
I’d like to introduce you to Redacting Rosslyn, the newest theme / navigational thread to join the original three: Wanderlust to Houselust, Archeology of Home, and Rehab Ad Infinitum. (Update: Yet another theme, Houselust to Wonderlust, was added circa 2020.) For the sake of clarity and candor, I should go full disclosure before getting in much deeper. Redacting Rosslyn is actually less of a theme than it is a catch-all. Since that’s a little misleading, I’d better clear matters up from the outset. Let’s start with the idea of redaction…
redactionnoun1 The process of editing text for publication.
1.1 The censoring or obscuring of part of a text for legal or security purposes.
1.2 A version of a text, such as a new edition or an abridged version.
Origin Late 18th century: from French rédaction, from late Latin redactio(n-), from redigere ‘bring back’. (Source: Oxford Dictionaries)
Early on in the process of transforming our home and lifestyle reboot into a story, I recognized that there wasn’t a nice tidy package for Rosslyn Redux. Or better put, I wasn’t successfully wrangling this adventure into a familiar format. A book, for example. This was my initial thought, but what sort of book. Memoir? How to? Thematically structured nonfiction? Lyric essay? Poems? Scrapbook?!?!
As I mucked around collecting and creating and curating content, I needed a temporarycontainer until I could formulate a plan. The blog was born. But soon it grew sprawling and unwieldy, so met with agents and editors to pick their brains. What’s a storyteller to do when his story is wayward and willfully independent? Their advice: make it a memoir, tighten the timeline (ideally no more than a year), and focus on my relationship with Susan.
I was unconvinced. That formula might well have been sellable, but a 1-year story about my marriage wasn’t really what interested me, and it certainly wasn’t the adventure I’d been exploring on Rosslyn Redux.
So I went rogue. I developed a short, solo performance piece to
explore whether or not the stage might be the best vehicle for telling our Rosslyn story,
solicit feedback from an audience (different than the blog, I presumed) about what sort of story they thought I should be creating. Maybe they could offer some fresh insight?
On August 3, 2011 I performed Redacting Rosslyn Redux at the Depot Theatre in Westport, and the experience transformed my understanding and hopes for the project. I’ve tackled the takeaways elsewhere, so I’ll try to stay on track here.
Let’s flip back to the idea of redaction for a moment.
Origin and Etymology of redaction
French rédaction, from Late Latin redaction-, redactio
act of reducing, compressing, from Latin redigere to bring back, reduce, from re-, red- re- + agere to lead (Source: Merriam-Webster)
Reducing, compressing, and bringing back are the crux. Although Redacting Rosslyn has evolved into a fourth theme, it’s really more of a meta look at my early decision to DIY this home rehab, my decision to morph the adventure into a storytelling project, and all of the other bizarre ancillary developments that I stumbled into as I became more and more obsessed with how (and why) to tell this story in this peculiar digital age.
It’s worth noting that the flavor profile for Redacting Rosslyn differs decidedly from Wanderlust to Houselust, Archeology of Home, Rehab Ad Infinitum, and Houselust to Wonderlust. I hope that the audience overlaps, but it probably leans more toward indie authors and artists, makers, and the sort of independent (and inevitably stubborn) DIYers who’d rather figure things out for themselves. Think of it as an afterward that so far has evaded completion…
Adirondack storyteller and writer, George Davis, needs you to help him kill a few stories on Wednesday, August 3 at The Depot Theatre in Westport, NY. Prepare for a pell-mell parade of vignettes, monologues and readings ranging from a wader-wearing Amazon named Rosslyn to a perennially pickled bathtub yachtsman… This solo performance pokes fun at the idiosyncrasies (and absurdities) of renovation, marriage and North Country life while inviting the audience to participate in editing a memoir… “Along the way I collected too many stories to fit in one book. The audience will help me decide which stories live. And which stories die. Basically, I’m asking otherwise compassionate, peaceful people to commit story-cide… It’s quite a unique opportunity!” (Adirondack Almanack)
I’m almost ready to redact Rosslyn Redux tomorrow night in Westport. Still playing with timing, transitions, and trimming. Always room to cut it shorter, shorter, shorter. If you come, you can help by “gong” editing… What? I guess you’ll have to come to see what I mean…
When I step onto the boards at the Depot Theatre tomorrow night, it will mark the first time that I’ve shared any of the material from the Rosslyn Redux manuscript, much less asked my readers to help me figure out what direction the final draft should take. Of course, much of what I’m reading will not make it into the final draft, and some of the vignettes aren’t even in the manuscript, instead created specifically for the performance. Suffice to say, this is an experiment, inviting readers and audience into the creative process, into the revision and redaction process. It could get very messy… Or it could be wildly successful. I’m gambling on the latter. In either case, I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
Update: I’ve just received some dapper Rosslyn Redux embroidered caps that will find their way onto the pates of some participants, and a stack of gift certificates to the finest dining establishments in Essex sit on my desk beside me. Participants will be entered into a drawing for caps, gift certificates, and one-day-some-day books!
This video is one of several exploratory forays into the Google Search vignette I included in my Redacting Rosslyn v1.0 performance last August at The Depot Theatre in Westport, New York.
Blending readings from my Rosslyn Redux manuscript with oral and digital storytelling, the event was a collaborative attempt to animate type, words and documents into interactive narrative.
I’ve discovered that building a book is a bit like rebuilding an old house. No matter how great the bones, how stunning the view, how well preserved the architecture and design, and no matter how clear and enticing the goal, you can’t do it by yourself.
In the case of our home it took the world’s most intelligent, beautiful and stubborn wife plus a vast community of contractors, carpenters, advisers, family and friends to rebuild Rosslyn. In the case of my book it will take your laughter, your sighs, your heckling (and even your prodding and booing and advising) to build Rosslyn Redux. (Redacting Rosslyn Redux » Rosslyn Redux)
I yearned for that creative tension that exists between live storyteller and audience. Oral narrative is by definition more dynamic, more elastic, more interactive than it’s written counterpart. Each live retelling differs as the storyteller responds to the audience, distilling the essentials and abandoning the rest. It’s the original crowd sourcing!
Suffice to say, this is an experiment, inviting readers and audience into the creative process, into the revision and redaction process. It could get very messy… (See you at Depot Theatre Tommorrow » Rosslyn Redux)
Of course, there’s another notable difference between typing stories and telling stories.
It’s funny. When I rehearse — aloud or in my head — my voice is Bourbon and caramel. Resonant. Enveloping… And then I hear a recording of myself or watch a video, and I’m certain the sound isn’t working properly. Bad mic? Is the equalizer busted? Probably the speakers are blown. I don’t have that pre-pubescent, one-dimensional voice that scurries for the rafters every few minutes. Really, I don’t.
I long for a deep, velvety radio disc jockey voice, but gargling Bourbon and caramel sauce so far hasn’t achieved the desired affect. And so it was a nice reprieve during my performance to clam up for a few minutes and let the video run sans voice.
Here’s another short video experimenting with the “Just Google it!” answer that I through at so many home renovation challenges between 2006 and 2009.
The lighthearted idea winding through this Google Search sequence is the impact that the renovation had had on us. As we wound down we discovered it was trickier to unwind ourselves… After four years of adrenaline charged, anxiety fueled DIY home renovation, my bride and I struggled to unlearn the survival skills we’d adapted.
I’ll post the final version of the video soon: Just Google it!
What happens when a storyteller writes a book? When a talker becomes a typer? When the audience’s laughter, sighs, snoring, heckling and applause vanish? When margins and page count provide only the most porous parameters?
I’ll tell you what. Story glut. Plot inflation. Unchecked character sprawl…
For the past year I’ve been writing and revising a memoir about the four years that Susan and I spent renovating the W.D. Ross property in Essex. I’ve discovered that building a book is a bit like rebuilding an old house. No matter how great the bones, how stunning the view, how well preserved the architecture and design, and no matter how clear and enticing the goal, you can’t do it by yourself.
In the case of our home it took the world’s most intelligent, beautiful and stubborn wife plus a vast community of contractors, carpenters, advisors, family and friends to rebuild Rosslyn. In the case of my book it will take your laughter, your sighs, your heckling (and even your prodding and booing and advising) to build Rosslyn Redux.
Please join me at 8:00pm on Wednesday, August 3 at The Depot Theatre in Westport for a solo performance of Redacting Rosslyn Redux, an evening of readings, storytelling and vignettes ranging from a wader-wearing Amazon named Rosslyn to a perennially pickled bathtub yachtsman. I’ll poke fun at the idiosyncrasies (and absurdities) of renovation, marriage and North Country life while plunging you into the creative process. Are you ready to help build a book?
You are invited to a reception in the lobby following the performance. All participants will be entered into a drawing for Essex gift certificates and Rosslyn Redux swag. All proceeds from this performance will be donated to The Depot Theatre. Here’s how to get tickets:
Depot Box Office:
Call: 518-962-4449
Monday, Thursday, and Friday from 10am-10pm
Saturday and Sunday from 12pm-10pm
Tuesday and Wednesday from 10am-5pm
Depot Online Ticket Sales:
http://depottheatre.org/tickets
