MANUAL

MANUAL (created with Christopher Willes) is a one-on-one performance that takes place in a public library.

Staged covertly in the library during open hours, viewers arrive on site with instructions to meet a performer at a particular time and location. From there they are led silently through a series of tiny actions together, following written notes and immersive audio in headphones. Using found materials in the library, the performer stages a surprisingly immersive and intimate sensory experience.

Intermingling with the daily life of the library, MANUAL reflects on the act of listening and the intimacy of reading with another person in a public space. Through a carefully guided participatory experience, the piece invites viewers to engage with the library as a site of deep sensory awareness, and to reflect on the social and technological conditions of shared attention.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

OFFTA, Montreal (2022)
PUSH, Vancouver, BC (2023)
Living Things, Kelowna, BC (2023)
Take Me Somewhere, Glasgow, UK (2023)
YPAM, Yokohama, JP (2023)
GIFT, Gateshead, UK (2024

upcoming:
Fierce, Birmingham, UK (2024)

CREDITS

Creation: Christopher Willes and Adam Kinner
Dramaturgy: Hanna Sybille Müller
Performers: Adam Kinner, Christopher Willes, Hanna Sybille
Müller, Denise Kenney, Alexa Mardon, Chao-Ying Rao (Betty)
& Rosa Postlethwaite.
Sound contributions from: Michael Davidson, Colin Fisher,
Thomas Gill, Terri Hron, Philippe Lauzier, Germaine Liu,
Philippe Melanson. Karen Ng, and Felicity Williams.
Production assistance: Camille Lacelle-Wilsey, Mulu Tesfu,
Jessica Han.
Created with the support of: Festival TransAmériques (Les
Respirations), Conseil des arts du Canada, Conseil des arts
et des lettres du Québec, the Ontario Arts Council, and LA
SERRE – arts vivants.
Creation residencies: Take Me Somewhere (UK), LA SERRE
– arts vivants (Montréal).
Photos by David Wong

PRESS

“However, I found most joy in a show that transports you around different floors and sections of Glasgow’s Mitchell Library. Adam Kinner and Christopher Willes: MANUAL gave the opportunity to get a behind the scenes experience of the library that focused on the sounds that it makes from various different areas, also focusing on where our eyes land within the library, inviting us to think about the mundane and playful elements in different ways. This was a show that breathed new life into books from the mere use of mostly a notebook, pencil, recorder and headphones.”

-Keira Brown in Snack Mag

Learning to read, again
Emmanuelle Jetté for Respirations

Games with ghosts in the library
Jenn Stephenson for Dramaturgies of Perception

MANUAL is an immersive conversation with a public library
Annapoorna Shruthi for Vancouver Art Review