TDB: Liberation Through Hearing by Radix
A 21-day immersive and multi-disciplinary event that uses the text of the Tibetan Book of the Dead to explore the process of dying and rebirth.
Created by Radix Theatre
TBD takes inspiration from the Tibetan Book of the Dead. This traditional Buddhist text is an auditory guide to the process of dying and re-birth, and is read to someone for 49 days after their death. TBD is a multi-disciplinary event that uses the Tibetan Book as a structural anchor, and as a guide to the audience’s sensual and emotional experience, exploring notions of death and dying, living in the present moment, avoiding distraction, and non-attachment.
With TBD, Radix asks its audience to imagine they have died and that they are now being guided through the afterlife. Much of the content is delivered via smartphones, however Radix also visits audience members at home, delivers packages to their door, puts posters up in their neighbourhood, asks them to visit site-specific performance installations, and sends them mail. Radix also locates them in public through a free app they download to their phone.
TBD only occurs with each participant’s full knowledge and consent, they may withdraw from the experience at any time. Prior to purchasing a ticket, audience members must agree to a few conditions, such as being mentally and emotionally stable enough to consider notions of death and dying, or willing to download an app so that Radix could locate them in public.
TBD takes inspiration from the Tibetan Book of the Dead. This traditional Buddhist text is an auditory guide to the process of dying and re-birth, and is read to someone for 49 days after their death. TBD is a multi-disciplinary event that uses the Tibetan Book as a structural anchor, and as a guide to the audience’s sensual and emotional experience, exploring notions of death and dying, living in the present moment, avoiding distraction, and non-attachment.
With TBD, Radix asks its audience to imagine they have died and that they are now being guided through the afterlife. Much of the content is delivered via smartphones, however Radix also visits audience members at home, delivers packages to their door, puts posters up in their neighbourhood, asks them to visit site-specific performance installations, and sends them mail. Radix also locates them in public through a free app they download to their phone.
TBD only occurs with each participant’s full knowledge and consent, they may withdraw from the experience at any time. Prior to purchasing a ticket, audience members must agree to a few conditions, such as being mentally and emotionally stable enough to consider notions of death and dying, or willing to download an app so that Radix could locate them in public.
Awards & Press
"A unique performance event inspired by the Tibetan Book of the Dead, the compelling, and at times witty, TBD will guide 100 adventurous audience members through a metaphorical process of death and rebirth. Every day for three weeks, Radix will connect with participants through unconventional and unexpected ways, transporting them on a deeply personal and moving journey as they imagine their own passage to re-incarnation." - Broadway World
"You can’t review a 21-day theatre experience the day after it ends. What I felt at the beginning changed so dramatically over the course of the experience that it has taken me five days to figure out how I feel about it now that it’s over." - Kelsey Klassen, Vancouver is Awesome
"Every day for 21 days, folks from the theatre company have some kind of contact with audience members. In the first podcast they sent, a voice guided me through my death from a brain aneurism. It was surprisingly peaceful. And there have been even cooler parts that I want to tell you about. About two weeks ago, I was parking my car in my underground garage. The garage door was closing when somebody yelled, “Hey!”. When I looked, I saw a guy in the alley. He popped down into push-up position and looked like he was going to scuttle underneath the door. I thought, “Who is fucking with me?" - Colin Thomas
"Audience members are guided over the course of three weeks through their own metaphorical process of death and rebirth, all the while interacting with cast members throughout their daily routine. Guided by a smartphone location app installed to each participant’s phone, actors engage with the audience through text messages, audio and video podcast, direct mail, and surprise encounters in the home.” " - Andrea Rabinovitch, Vancouver Observer
"You can’t review a 21-day theatre experience the day after it ends. What I felt at the beginning changed so dramatically over the course of the experience that it has taken me five days to figure out how I feel about it now that it’s over." - Kelsey Klassen, Vancouver is Awesome
"Every day for 21 days, folks from the theatre company have some kind of contact with audience members. In the first podcast they sent, a voice guided me through my death from a brain aneurism. It was surprisingly peaceful. And there have been even cooler parts that I want to tell you about. About two weeks ago, I was parking my car in my underground garage. The garage door was closing when somebody yelled, “Hey!”. When I looked, I saw a guy in the alley. He popped down into push-up position and looked like he was going to scuttle underneath the door. I thought, “Who is fucking with me?" - Colin Thomas
"Audience members are guided over the course of three weeks through their own metaphorical process of death and rebirth, all the while interacting with cast members throughout their daily routine. Guided by a smartphone location app installed to each participant’s phone, actors engage with the audience through text messages, audio and video podcast, direct mail, and surprise encounters in the home.” " - Andrea Rabinovitch, Vancouver Observer
Presentations
- Radix Theatre / Vancouver / 25 Oct - 14 Nov, 2015.
