Go Deeper into unseen: Reading, Music & More

One inspiration for unseen, according to playwright Mona Mansour, is the work of Nichole Sobecki, an American photographer and filmmaker based in Kenya. Sobecki’s photography, which focuses on regional issues related to identity conflict and human rights, has illuminated everything from war, terrorism, and climate change to illegal trade in endangered animals. Sobecki is also a contributor to Everyday Africa, a collection of images shot on mobile phones across the continent that showcases moments missing from dramatic news images—everyday life that is neither idealized nor debased. Visit her website, or see a feature in The Independent Photographer that includes a collection of her stunning photos.

Soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, The Washington Post examined the ethics and consequences of journalists publishing extremely violent content from the front lines of war. Discussing one disturbing photo that The New York Times published on its front page in March 2022, Post reporter Paul Farhi says, “Newsrooms have for decades been cautious when it comes to displaying such graphic images, weighing the journalistic benefits of chronicling the horror against the distress it might cause readers and the victims’ families.” Read the Washington Post article here. For the inside story behind the New York Times photo, listen to a Podcast on the New York Times Daily with Lynsey Addario, the photojournalist who took it. And for a neuropsychiatrist’s view of the effects on photographers of documenting violence and disaster, read “Photographers Who Bear Witness to War Pay a Steep Price” in the Daily Beast. (Content warning: All of these articles contain images of death and graphic descriptions.) 

During the months of preparation for unseen, sound designer Avi Amon collaborated with director Evren Odcikin and assistant director Hala Baki to compile a playlist of 130 Turkish and Arabic pop songs to frame the sound for the show—and to help the actors and artists get in the spirit. Listen for yourself to this amazing, energizing collection.

The trauma depicted in unseen is well know among journalists who face psychological impacts from reporting violent events. One organization is helping them: The Dart Center, based at the Columbia Journalism School. Founded in 1991, the Dart Center advocates ethical and thorough reporting of trauma; compassionate, professional treatment of victims and survivors by journalists; and greater awareness by media organizations of the impact of trauma coverage on both news professionals and news consumers. The Dart Center is funded by organizations and individuals. To find out how you can help, visit their funding page.

As director Evren Odcikin mentioned in his “From the Director” note, playwright Mona Mansour often began unseen rehearsals by sharing a poem. Here are a few of the poems that “made the impossibly large questions at the heart of unseen more human-sized.”

“The Colonel” by Carolyn Forché

“My Mother’s Body” by Marie Howe

“I Have a Seat in the Abandoned Theater” by Mahmoud Darwish