A Uniquely Transformative

Theatrical Experience

“I know the theatre scene in this country, and I don’t believe this is happening anywhere else.”

        

1. -- Tony Curiel,
   

2. Member, Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers
   

3. Associate Professor Emeritus, University of California, San Diego,
   

4. Princess Grace Theatre Fellow
   

5. 
   

6. Note: Webster’s defines “mummery” as “a ridiculous,
   

7. hypocritical or pretentious ceremony or performance.”
   

Nowhere in the world will you find theatre that approaches an enactment of Adi Da Samraj’s The Mummery Book. It is unique, extraordinarily powerful, and, by design, far more than a theatrical performance.

At present it is performed in a single location – a state-of-the-art cockpit theatre set in the woods of northern California. Described later in more detail, this unique theatre space goes several steps beyond theatre-in-the-round.

As the first book of The Orpheum, Adi Da Samraj’s literary trilogy*, The Mummery Book is distinguished first of all by the sheer scale of its powerful story-line, of the hero, Raymond Darling who relinquishes the awareness of his divine state to enter a “lower” world of mortality and limitation. In his encounters with love, loss, and death, Raymond embodies an extraordinary depth of feeling, a heart-need for something greater than human love, and a steadfast refusal to be consoled by the religious, spiritual, and philosophic answers we commonly accept.

In keeping with the scale of this core myth, every scene is painted larger than life to illuminate a reality far more profound than the one we normally perceive.   

For example, when Raymond is ready to undergo the familiar rite of passage of leaving his parents to go out on his own, he and his father visit a barbershop in the city. The scene starts out as an amusing parody of the archetypal male habitat, with slick, at-your-service barbers and “prettified women” manicurists. There are only pleasantries back and forth and a general feeling of good will. But suddenly the mood changes, becoming more serious, then ominous, and ending with all the barbers and manicurists together brandishing their sharp instruments to attack Dad in the barber’s chair.

This is no ordinary life-transition then – or at least here that rite of passage is rendered in starker colors. For we understand that the world of Mom and Dad is itself an archetype for the limited vision of life that all of us inherit and would otherwise be doomed to replicate, like the black-and-white checkerboard squares replicating on the floor of the barbershop.

Still the scene is by no means over. There is more horror when the barbershop walls fall away and “The long-expected Flash! And Gunning! Of the democratic Neighbor-Wars began!” As the Narrator describes it:

The billions of the Nations of every ego’s claim, were kniving one another – tusk-to-tusk! And every man was man-to-man! And every woman did her part! And every household’s weapons were Amazing! on the street! And every single body was Cut! Down – to its own size of mind! And every individual declared a separate State! …

     And all of humankind, as one-by-one, became a mob of Mummery. A Clacking! Pattern of mere and Clicking! “individuals” – with murderously reasonable demands!

So it goes throughout The Mummery Book, which not only tells the story of Raymond’s unique journey but helps us understand the mummery of our own world, with piercing, archetypal scenes that lay bare the reality of our search for truth, love, pleasure, and the consolations of religion and spirituality, in episodes that are by turns – and, often, in rapid sequence – comic, horrific, heartbreaking, erotic, devastating, ecstatic. 

Along the way, Raymond meets some memorable characters. There’s Moode Thom, an old fisherman – or seeker – who tells a bitter story of false promises before coming, almost literally, to the end of his line. And the widow Bue Ma, whose wild sexual energy  momentarily enthralls Raymond. And Quandra, Raymond’s true love. Although Quandra and Raymond have only a brief encounter the first time they meet, their love story embodies the heartbreak of mortal existence. Raymond’s love for her and his passionate attempts to find her again – and, in that process, to transcend the limits of merely human love – are central to the meaning of everything that follows.     

Finally, there is the infamous Evelyn (pronounced EE-vil-in) Disk, the hugely fat, often comic, self-serving preacher and spiritual teacher who tries to manipulate Raymond for his own purposes by appearing to worship him and help him be re-united, forever, with Quandra. The consummate smooth talker, Evelyn is capable of blending high dharma with vaudevillian buffoonery, while oozing sincerity from every pore. Supported by a chorus of faithful acolytes, his interplay with Raymond drives the action to its extraordinary climax.

Note *The second and third books in The Orpheum trilogy are The Scapegoat Book and The Happenine Book.

A novel and compelling use of language  

“If Dylan Thomas and Buddha shared a soul, The Mummery Book is what I would expect from such a joining.”

1. -- Robert Boldman
   

2. Author, Poet
   

You will find yourself deeply moved – and challenged – by the way Adi Da Samraj uses language throughout the enactment. Scenes involving Raymond and his beloved Quandra, for example, are exquisite. Here the chorus addresses Raymond:

Your feeling-heart

must take Her Open—

like recessions

of the Sea

And She will trace

Your Sun-lit pain-of-body,

down—

in the sky-blue ointment

of Her Moon-cool hands.

And She will Speak

Her Love to You—

and Call You Wonderful.

You Are the One—

That Sounds Her anklet jewel,

in the sand.

At other times, as in the passage from the barbershop scene quoted earlier, the script crackles with energy. Often the language flows with such a concentration of insight, paradox, and visionary imagery that it is, deliberately, hard for the thinking mind to follow. At which point you “let go” and fall into the perceptual mind with a different kind of understanding, allowing the action to play in the theatre of your intuition.    

An Orphic feast

The depth and richness of the enactment comes not just from the action and script. In scene after scene, the entire theatre is bathed in stunning color and black-and-white images, over 1000 in all, projected onto 12 large screens around the room and sometimes on the actors themselves.

These are not just any images. They are drawn from a compilation of remarkable artistic works created by the author, Adi Da Samraj, who is also an internationally-acclaimed visual artist. The exhibition of his artwork at this year’s Venice Biennale quickly became a must-see event. Adi Da’s art is designed to allow you to participate in the true nature of reality through the aesthetic experience of beauty. Because all of Adi Da’s images reflect this core intent, they naturally correlate with the action of The Mummery Book, and they are carefully selected, scene by scene, to add another striking visual dimension. (To read Adi Da’s own writings on the unique purpose and nature of his artistic work, read his essay collections entitled Transcendental Realism: The Image-Art of egoless Coincidence With Reality Itself and Aesthetic Ecstasy, available from The Dawn Horse Press.) 

Finally, a wide range of instrumental and choral music – including some original work composed specifically for this enactment – adds further to the rich sensory environment, working in the same manner as the projected image-art to reinforce or play against the shifting moods and content of the narrative. 

A profound transformation

    “I felt I was in a different place when I came out.”

1. -- Elizabeth Gjelten
   

2. Playwright, Teacher
   

You will certainly find The Mummery Book entertaining, but that is not its fundamental purpose. Its real aim is to transform you. Its overwhelming power and sensory richness work – like Orpheus’ lyre – to strip away your defenses. As one audience member put it, “It made me drop all my intellectual pre-conceptions. All my weaponry.”

If you then participate fully, allowing the players and the images in the physical theatre to simultaneously play in your “room” of mind, you will be drawn through changes – even while staying within the framework of your current philosophical, religious, or spiritual point of view. You may discover an opening to life at a level of feeling rarely experienced, a heightened sensitivity to the realities of love and loss and death, and a sense of how you play a role in the mummery of ordinary life.

The length of the performance – eight hours, spread over two days – gives you the space to not only go through the gamut of moods and responses, but to also emerge transformed. Can this piece engage you for that length of time? One recent attendee said, “I came with some ideas about the length. I think a lot of people did. I was worried that I’d be terrifically bored after a couple of hours. But as it turns out, great theatre keeps you going.”    

Theatre in the sur-round

Your transformation is aided by a unique theatre space designed around principles formulated by Adi Da Samraj to support your fullest participation. You as the audience surround the central stage, but you are in turn surrounded by a higher “racetrack” stage, with action occurring on both levels as well as on the floor level. Characters enter and exit from all levels and all points of the compass, including through dramatic openings in the theatre that will take you by surprise! No matter where you sit, you are close to the actors, and all of this serves to break down the usual wall between actors and audience and to create an extraordinary intimacy – without intruding on your own private response to the performance.   

Because this is transformational theatre, interestingly, there is also no applause at the end of scenes and no curtain call for the actors at the end of the enactment. Instead, you are allowed to simply feel and contemplate what you have experienced – and are invited to stay in your seat as long as you wish to after the final scene ends. 

Drawing you back again and again

You may not only find it hard to leave the theatre but hard to stay away. Many who attend come back only a month or two later to see another enactment, and some come back repeatedly. There are several reasons for this.

One is simply that you find it so attractive. As the first part of Adi Da Samraj’s Orpheum trilogy, the story mirrors Orpheus’ descent into the underworld to bring back Eurydice, and it has the purifying depth and scale of classical theatre, with mythic action that extends far beyond the boundaries of the immediate characters and scene. But Adi Da Samraj pushes the story beyond the limits of the ancient myth and combines this classical depth and reach with a modern use of language, shifting perspectives, complex moods, and rapidly-changing action.   

Another reason The Mummery Book draws you back is that it is far too profound and multi-layered to take in at one sitting. The entire performance has the nature of a parable, where you are presented with something very concrete, but its layers of meaning could take you in many directions.

Finally, if you see the enactment a second time, you’ll find that your experience is different. You are struck by different scenes or characters, and you respond differently – not just to certain parts but to the entire enactment. This isn’t surprising given that you are meant to be a participant in the action. Ultimately the play is about you, and you aren’t likely to be in the same place each time you see it.

An international ensemble 

The power of each enactment is sustained by exceptional performances from an ensemble cast that has come together from the United States, Canada, Germany, Australia, England, and New Zealand. All the main characters are experienced professionals, some with long lists of credits in theatre, television, and film, and most have performed together for several years in The Mummery Book.

The entire production is a collaborative effort, using six directors who work under one principal director. At least two directors are present at the rehearsal of each scene. The production has already reached a high level of refinement, and it will continue to evolve each year, building on the best of what has gone before. The result, in one critic’s eye, “is a theatrical experience of accomplished beauty.”

The theatre is located in Middletown, California, a two-and-a–half hour drive north from San Francisco. It truly is an amazing experience – well worth the “pilgrimage”!