Spring is in the air and, amidst the horrors, new productions abound! I caught up with Kelly Bartnik of Artemis is Burning to discuss upcoming previews for The Death of Rasputin, an immersive show taking over the LMCC Arts Center at Governor’s Island.
The Death of Rasputin, set in Petrograd, Russia, 1916, chronicles the lives and liaisons between the landed nobility, the proletariat workers, and the followers of an infamous religious leader. The Death of Rasputin offers complex meditations on truth, faith, and history while juxtaposing provocative perspectives on class, heritage, and (chosen) family. Here, we converse about Kelly’s artistic lore, her motivations for joining the team to produce, and the work’s relevance to current events.
Photo: Amy Gardner
TA: Jumping right in- what inspired your involvement with Death of Rasputin?
The Death of Rasputin is the inaugural production of the new theater company, Artemis is Burning, founded by Ashley Brett Chipman. She comes from a background in film and has had a long-running obsession with the story of Rasputin. When she saw Sleep No More, she was inspired by the genre of immersive theater and it sparked her journey to creating this show. I was brought on as a producer to facilitate bringing it to life. I have a lengthy background in immersive theater, having been one of the original cast members of Sleep No More as well as making and directing my own immersive work, HERE and directing large-scale shows like Hotel Wonderland in the Netherlands. I have also worked in various capacities with Optika Moderna, Cinereal Productions, Woodshed Collective and Meow Wolf, among others.
TA: Where are you coming from, artistically? I know Sleep No More is a large part of the picture, but beyond (and including) that… what’s your lineage, who are your ancestors and mentors? How does that influence what you’re making right now?
My background is rooted in movement and choreography. That’s what I studied and what I came to NY to do. I did spend many years making my own work and performing for other people – in fact I still do both of these things, but being cast in Sleep No More did expand my trajectory quite a bit. Immersive theater is a genre I fell in love with and at this point I’ve approached it from all angles: writing, directing, performing, devising, choreographing, producing. I really enjoy crafting experiences and worlds to be entered into, and in the same breath I still enjoy making more “traditional” movement-based work; I love performing and I am now expanding into installation work. So yeah, I kind of like to do it all.
Photo: Stephanie Crousillat
TA: I totally understand that urge- so many hats to wear, so little time. Tell me more about the work itself. What will audiences encounter in this production?
One of the biggest differences with The Death of Rasputin is that it is largely a text-based show. The writing team spent months crafting a script from scratch that is being continually developed with the cast in rehearsals. Shows like Sleep No More and Life and Trust [Sleep No More’s new incarnation, set in the Financial District] are rooted in the absence of language, whereas this show brings text-based work into a fully immersive environment. The Death of Rasputin also seeks to incorporate the audience with more participatory elements so they can not only enter the world as a viewer but invest in the world as a part of it.
TA: Why are you examining this particular period in history, and this subject matter?
This is more of a question for Ashley who conceived of the show and the writers and creative team, but I do know that there is an intentional echoing of our present political climate in the way that we sort fact from fiction.
In a time where what is deemed as “true” is tenuous at best, The Death of Rasputin explores the foundations of modern political propaganda, imploring the audience to look further, deeper and with more focus than ever before. Above all, it invites the audience to reflect upon politics itself as a form of theater.
TA: I’m picking up what you’re laying down. Art’s greatest function is social commentary these days, it seems. What’s your relationship to cults? Religion?
I don’t have a personal relationship to cults, although I suppose it could be argued that we all belong to a cult of something. With regard to religion, I grew up Catholic and my brothers and I went to Catholic school for a while. That didn’t really stick with me very long, but I do consider myself to be a spiritual person.
TA: Yes, everything has cult potential. Dance is a cult, theater is a cult, etc. Ballet seemed especially cultish to me when I was growing up. Sometimes the cults choose us… Anyways, now that you’ve envisioned and crafted this experience, what’s the most exciting part of the process for you right now?
We’re opening for previews this week and everything is sort of sliding into place on a daily basis. It’s a beast of a project with many moving parts, but everyone is coming together to make it work. We’re a small company and the amount of support we have received on every front has been amazing. It really feels like people are rooting for us to succeed, which is giving us that extra boost to power through. Projects of this scale usually come with 4 times the budget, 3 times the people and 10 times the amount of time, so I’m really proud of what we’re pulling off, no matter what becomes of it.
TA: Hell yeah! That’s the spirit. I can imagine the stress is proportionate to the delight when the creative vision is fulfilled. Speaking of which, what’s next for the project?
We actually don’t know yet. This iteration is really a proof of concept for the team and so the immediate goal is getting it mounted so we can see what works and what doesn’t and learn the ins and outs making it successful and financially viable. We hope, of course, that it will be able to live on after this version, perhaps in another location or a different scale. We shall see how it all plays out . . .
The Death of Rasputin begins previews April 17-27 and opens May 1. Get your tickets now!
Conceptualized by Ashley Brett Chipman
Directed by Ashley Brett Chipman and Hope Youngblood
Assistant Direction by Julia Sharpe
Written by Julia Sharpe, David Campbell, Hope Youngblood & Ashley Brett Chipman
Choreography by James Finnemore
Sound Design by Stephen Dobbie
Produced by Kelly Bartnik
Production Management by Allison Camali
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