On January 9th, 1908, at 12:02 AM, the first train to travel beneath the East River left Borough Hall with fifty prominent Brooklynites aboard. For many, it was the first time they had been underground; for all, it was the first time they had traveled to Manhattan without seeing the river. The ride was exactly 15 minutes long.

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ANABASIS is a meditation on that first trip from Brooklyn to Manhattan on the subway. What must it have felt like to enter the tunnel for the first time? And how was the city changed forever by the progress it represented?

As the three characters descend into the darkness, they consider their simultaneously growing and shrinking world. In this timely piece, the audience is asked to consider how new technologies have impacted their lives, and if our increased connection has really helped us connect with each other.

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ANABASIS was commissioned by American Opera Projects and the New York Transit Museum. It has music by Dawson Atkin and a libretto by Mel Hornyak. Its initial production was performed both in a fully staged format at the African Grove Theatre, and an adapted format on a BMT D-model triplex train car from 1925 at the New York Transit Museum.

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Dawson was interviewed about the project on All of It with Allison Stewart, which airs daily on WNYC, America's most-listened public radio station.