D For Deception: The Performance

The Role of Performance in Multimedia Storytelling

Atavist No. 16, D For Deception, by Tina Rosenberg, marks The Atavist’s foray into a new medium: live storytelling. On Wednesday at the New America foundation, we premiered D For Deception: The Performance. The short theater piece starred Rosenberg as herself guiding the audience through Dennis Wheatley’s world with the help of audio recordings, live music, images, video, props, and two actors. Sharon Mashihi served as Rosenberg’s subconscious, while actor Gregory Mozgala played the role of Dennis Wheatley, silently acting out his favorite pastimes: drinking, smoking, writing, reading, and womanizing. 

During the performance, Rosenberg brought to life her Atavist piece, which traces the forgotten history of a spy novelist turned spy named Dennis Wheatley. Although Wheatley was once called the “Prince of Thriller Writers” in Britain, few today have heard of him. 

Wheatley was not just a master storyteller (though not the best prose writer), he was also a multimedia storytelling pioneer. In the 1930s, he penned a series of crime dossiers that replaced the traditional mystery novel with police transcripts, documents, photographs, fingerprints and even physical evidence, thrusting his readers into the active role of detective. 

Considering Wheatley’s craft for multimedia thinking, it is fitting to present his history in multimedia form. Rosenberg’s enhanced eBook includes an interactive excerpt from one of Wheatley’s crime dossiers, photographs, illustrations, historical documents, archival footage, maps, timelines, and a slew of other digital media that immerse the reader into Wheatley’s fascinating and decadent world. We were excited to add the layer of performance to that media list. 

There is something special about a group of people coming together in a room to share a moment. The performance allowed the audience to experience the author as actor and creator, exposing her relationship to the story—and Wheatley—in a unique way. 

Of course, we couldn’t have done it without the fabulous live storytelling troupe known as Radio Cabaret (Kaitlin Prest, Sharon Mashihi and Audrey Quinn), the wonderful musical ensemble Seth Kessel and the Two Cent Band, and our hosts at The New America Foundation, who were extremely supportive of this crazy experiment.

For those of you who missed the performance, plans are in the works for more in the near future. Stay tuned!

—Olivia Koski, Senior Producer