The Object Lesson

Independent theater artist Geoff Sobelle tested ideas for his first-ever one-man show, an absurdist piece called The Object Lesson. The work is an "archaeological dig of the here and now" that explores our relationship to "things": our desire to collect and discard things, how we use things to identify ourselves, and how we ascribe feelings to things. Sobelle shaped the piece during residencies at the Orchard Project in upstate New York, The Yard on Martha's Vineyard, and LCT3 in Manhattan. At The Yard, he was able to execute a complex design effort: a 15-ton mound of dirt to perform on/in, envisioned as both a set and an art installation. At LCT3, in contrast, Sobelle conceived the piece in a near-empty room. The notion of an "island" remained consistent, but new physical constraints opened up fresh ideas for the artist.

Though Sobelle engaged a team during this planning period—including choreographer David Neumann, designer Steven Dufala, and composer Erik Sanko—The Object Lesson allowed him to develop his voice as an independent theater-maker for the first time. The full production had its world premiere at the 2013 FringeArts Festival with subsequent productions at Summerhall Festival in Edinburgh (August 2014: winner of the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award) and the BAM Next Wave Festival (November 2014).