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Like composer Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero,” frontotemporal dementia starts out small – the soft, yet persistent drumming of lost words, phrases, and misplaced social cues.
Gradually, as in “Bolero,” the behaviors build to a crescendo. Some scholars wonder whether Ravel was in the early stages of a variation of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in 1928 when the French composer wrote what became one of his most well-known works.
Certainly, Canadian biologist Anne Adams was on that path.
As FTD took away more and more of the abilities that made her a renowned scientist, new talents took their place. Adams began to experience music as color, painting eight hours a day. In 1994, at age 53, Ravel’s age when he composed “Bolero,” Adams painted “Unravelling Bolero,” Ravel’s composition – color by color, bar by bar.
“This symphony and this painting were calling to each other across the century,” said playwright Jake Broder, whose multimedia play, “UnRavelled,” will be presented at the University of Pennsylvania in conjunction with the 15th International Conference on Frontotemporal Dementias Oct. 8 through Oct. 11 at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown.
The music and the painting “were both created because of, not in spite of, frontotemporal degeneration,” Broder said.
Like “Bolero,” Broder’s play starts small, portraying the ordinary intimacies of a married couple, Anne and Robert Adams. There’s also a small orchestra – five musicians who move about the stage.
Over the course of the play, everything becomes more complex. Adams’ paintings, shown by video, get larger and take up more room. The music, created by the musicians, all of whom play multiple instruments, is layered until five musicians sound like an orchestra of 60.
“Bolero starts out small and until it is gigantic,” he said. Same with “UnRavelled.”
“The finale is big,” Broder said.
Back in 2018, “UnRavelled” hadn’t even started small, but the dementia that was overtaking Broder’s father had. That’s when Broder heard a RadioLab podcast describing Adams’ shift from scientist to artist and how she came to visualize Ravel’s “Bolero.”
“At that point, my Dad had something and we didn’t know what it was. We were really scared,” Broder said.
Through the podcast, he learned about this variation of FTD, primary progressive aphasia.
“It’s a disease that not only takes something away, but unlocks new possibilities,” he said. “That, to me, was a revelation and it gave me hope.
“At that point, if I could feel this sense of hope in the setting of thinking about my Dad’s dementia, then other people could too, and I almost have a duty to share that with other people. So thus began the journey.”
Fans of the HBO sitcom “Silicon Valley,” parody might recognize Broder as Dan Melcher, one of the tech execs. Dr. Bruce Miller, the founding director of the Global Brain Health Institute at the University of California, San Francisco did.
After Broder learned about Ravel and Adams, he began researching, discovered Miller, and wrote him a fan letter. To Broder’s surprise, Miller recognized from “Silicon Valley” and wrote back.
The two met and their connections led to a new career path for Broder. He became an Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute also housed in Trinity College in Dublin and received a commission to write the play.
The fellowship, Broder said, is “at the intersection of neurology, neuroscience, and society, and equity, and art and leadership. It’s a how-to- change the world program.”
“Dementia is ready for its pink-ribbon moment,” Broder said, referring to the well-known breast cancer campaign. Just as cancer and heart disease have moved into public awareness with increasing ability to slow and stop disease, dementia, he said, is on the threshold of new progress.
“We’re outliving our brains for the first time in history. Of course, there are going to be more brain injuries. It’s a sign of our success as species, not a horrible gray wave waiting to take us away,” he said.
“In the next 10 years, it’s going to be amazing. We’re going to be able to stop it earlier. We’re going to be able to prevent these conditions,” he said. “But in order to do this we need to stop looking at this through the lens of fear.”
That’s the point of “UnRavelled.” Wherever it’s performed, Broder said, so many in the audience stop by afterwards to talk about how they related to play.
Presented in partnership with Penn Medicine, the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, the Global Brain Health Institute and other groups, each performance of “UnRavelled” will be accompanied by post-show discussions and workshops.
Marion Karasiuk, Anne Adams’ daughter, will be among the speakers after the Oct. 8 performance. The matinee on Oct. 10 will be followed by a free music and poetry workshop specifically designed for people with dementia and their caregivers, although all are welcome. A free music, poetry and dance workshop will be held after the Sunday matinee on Oct. 11.
FYI
“UnRavelled,” Penn Live Arts, Oct. 8-11, Harold Prince Theatre, 3680 Walnut St., University of Pennsylvania. Links to register for the workshops are here. 215-898-3900.
janevonbtheater@gmail.com
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