On the Shore Dimly Seen is a performance documentary based on the interrogation log of Guantanamo Bay detainee 063, in which director/composer Gregory Whitehead, vocalist Gelsey Bell and actress Anne Undeland enter into the darkness in search of the spirit of liberty.
Gregory says:
'The interrogation log of detainee 063, as revealed to the public through Wikileaks, offers a detailed hour-by-hour chronicle of the so-called 'special interrogation plan' approved by Donald Rumsfeld and others in the Bush administration during the months following 9/11. In reading through the entire log that records many months of abuse, I was struck by the persistent use of loud music to assault the senses of the detainee; and in particular, the use of the Star Spangled Banner, during which the detainee would be ordered to stand at attention with his hand over his heart.
Verse two of the American national anthem begins:
On the shore dimly seen, through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
These lines provided me with both a title and a commitment to break the 'dread silence' that continues to surround the regime of no-touch torture imposed within Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay. By responding to the violence of 9/11 with torture, we betrayed our most fundamental values, using our flag and anthem as props in acts of criminal abuse. Yet to this day, despite extensive documentation of extreme human rights violations, not a single perpetrator has been held accountable. What is half-disclosed also remains half-concealed.
At the heart of this broadcast: one day in the no-touch torture of detainee 063, as expressed through my verbatim voicing. Other texts float through and around the log, voiced by Anne Undeland: lists of the approved techniques, brief histories in the development of no-touch torture, and analysis of what is happening within the interrogation log itself. Extended improvisations by vocalist Gelsey Bell both embody and repel the cruel logic of the texts.'
Whitehead has tracked the history of no-touch torture through writings on Desperado Philosophy, and believes that by responding to violence with torture, we betray the deepest values woven into the American flag. He thanks Rebecca Gordon, Alfred McCoy and William Cavanaugh for their brilliant researches into the darkest corners of the American imagination; thanks also to Gelsey Bell and Anne Undeland for the courage and intensity they bring to every performance.
Gregory Whitehead has created more than one hundred radio plays, essays and acoustic adventures for the BBC, Radio France, Australia’s ABC, NPR and other broadcasters. Often interweaving documentary and fictive materials into playfully unresolved narratives, Whitehead’s aesthetic is distinguished by a deep philosophical commitment to radio as a medium for poetic navigation and free association. As a vocalist, he has performed as both soloist and chorister in a wide variety of ensembles since his days as a boy soprano.
Gelsey Bell is a singer, songwriter, and scholar. She performs regularly as an experimental vocalist, culling from a wide range of techniques and styles to create her own performance works, to literally voice those of contemporary composers. She is a core member of thingNY and Varispeed, and she has worked with numerous performance creators including Robert Ashley, Matthew Barney and Jonathan Bepler among others.
Anne Undeland is an actress based in the Berkshires, widely known for her virtuosic voicing of one-woman shows such as The Belle of Amherst. She has worked with Whitehead on numerous projects for the BBC, including The Loneliest Road and Four Trees Down From Ponte Sisto.