MEANING: THE FRANKL PROJECT

A short doc about the making of MEANING: The Frankl Project with Chris Domig and Alexander Vesely, Frankl's grandson.
Edited by Thomas Collings

WATCH VIDEO HERE

MEANING: The Frankl Project

Devised by BRANDT ADAMS
CHRISTOPHER J. DOMIG
GUY DE LANCEY
and ERWIN MAAS
Directed by ERWIN MAAS

March 3-4, 2023
Jeffrey & Paula Gural Theatre
at the A.R.T./New York Theatres

In this deeply personal and immersive theatrical experience, writer and actor Christopher J. Domig, in collaboration with co-author Brandt Adams, designer Guy De Lancey, and director Erwin Maas, brings Viktor Frankl's seminal work to life. Blending Frankl's harrowing journey through Nazi concentration camps with Domig’s own reflections and interactive moments with the audience, the play becomes a powerful exploration of resilience, love, and the search for meaning in the face of suffering.

This play has been a labor of love—years in the making, shaped by workshops, rewrites, and conversations that have deepened our commitment to Frankl’s vision. More than a timeless message, the question of meaning—and the guiding principles of logotherapy—implicates us all. From the first staged reading in a small NYC theater to unforgettable exchanges with audience members, this project has carried a quiet urgency: to bring a full production to life. For our creative team, this is not just another play—it’s a shared vocation.

Through raw storytelling and audience engagement, MEANING: The Frankl Project challenges us to reflect on our own lives and choices, offering a profound reminder of the human spirit's capacity to endure and find purpose, even in the darkest times.

Brandt is a Brooklyn-based theater artist. This is his second project as a playwright for Sea Dog. The first was Not From Here, which was performed to sold out crowds in a suite at The Ace Hotel in spring of 2018. His first play, Dispatches from (A)mended America, co-written with Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr., was produced Off-Broadway in 2012 by Epic Theatre Ensemble at the Theater at the 14th Street Y and was published by NoPassport Press in 2018 as part of its Epic Plays anthology. He is currently at work on a series of one acts about anthropomorphic animals wrestling with the minutiae of day to day life in a world changing on a grand scale. Thanks to S&L&A, who fill his life with meaning.

Christopher is an actor and director in New York City. Recent acting credits include: The Waste Land: A Performance/Installation at FringeNYC, English World Premiere of Dirt in New York (59E59, 4th Street Theater), Edinburgh (Gilded Balloon), Vancouver (Pacific Theatre), Berlin (ETB), and London (Arcola Theatre). Recent Film: Ava (dir. Tate Taylor, opposite Jessica Chastain) Recent TV: Blue Bloods, Boardwalk Empire, Black List, Law & Order: SVU and Blindspot. BFA: Wheaton College, MFA: Southern Methodist University. www.christopherdomig.com

ERWIN MAAS (Director) is a New York based theatermaker, curator, educator and international arts advocate from the Netherlands with extensive international experience across a variety of creative and community contexts. In New York, his directions both Off Broadway and site specific have received multiple NY Times Critic’s Picks. His directing work ranges from plays by contemporary playwrights to devised, interdisciplinary immersive projects, opera, music theater and dance with performances for all ages. He is the Co-Executive Director of the Pan-African Creative Exchange (PACE) & teaches at CUNY Brooklyn College's MFA Performance & Interactive Media Arts Program (PIMA) - www.erwinmaas.com

(Designer and Co-Creator) is a conceptual detective in multiple disciplines. He is associate Director of the Movement Laboratory for research and practice in movement, technology and creativity at Barnard College, Columbia University. He was awarded a research grant to attend Fabrica, the Benetton Arts and Communications Center, Italy in collaboration with film director Godfrey Reggio. He works in theater and film and education, directing, design and scenography, cinematography, lighting design, research in narrative design, process design, and interactive technology. He has worked extensively in the performing arts as both director and designer. Recently he was scenic and projection designer for the highly acclaimed ‘Maslow’s Peak’ for Ballet X in Philadelphia. He has had artistic work exhibited at Signs and Symbols gallery New York and The Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art Austria.