Swimming in the Dark is an epic gay love story set behind the Iron Curtain of 1980’s Poland and chock full of political intrigue. It’s also replete with themes that speak to social justice issues. Namely LGBTQIA rights but also the muting of critical voices, disinformation, and the global slide towards autocracy. Our lead character is the unlikely rebel who secretly reads James Baldwin, escapes the police in a breathtaking act of defiance that amplifies a “Solidarity” protest in downtown Warsaw and eventually becomes entrapped in an undercover operation, that detains and registers him in a kind of “pink file” used to harass and intimidate gays during that era in Communist Poland.

In January 2024, Michael Shell directed the concert reading at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, which featured a cast of nine singers and a chamber orchestra of 12 players, conducted by Tyler Readinger. 

In March 2025, The Jacobs School of Music and The Studios of Key West will co-produce a workshop performance of the completed Act I of Swimming in the Dark. Stay tuned for more information coming soon.