Current Work
My central creative work is Initiation of the World: Wright, Robeson & LSD, a historical psychological drama centered on Paul Robeson, Richard Wright, James Thornwell, and Candy Jones. The play explores the Cold War machinery of mind control, HUAC pressure, race, exile, spiritual awakening, and the question of what remains sacred when systems try to break the human mind.
The project is built for both theatre and screen: a chamber drama with historical force, cinematic atmosphere, and a strong ensemble of actors. It connects the legacy of MKULTRA-era experimentation to the modern world of propaganda, surveillance, disinformation, trauma, and healing.
I am also developing a memoir that draws from my own life: growing up Black in rural Pennsylvania, moving through elite education and technology, serving in the military, surviving institutional harm, and transforming those experiences into art, witness, and dramatic form.
Why This Site Exists
Russell Johnson Interactive began as a personal artist website — photography, performance, travel, spiritual study, and visual experiments. It now also serves as a home for my dramatic writing, including Initiation of the World and the memoir work growing beside it.
The older galleries remain part of the story. They show the eye behind the writing: nature, bodies, movement, architecture, Los Angeles, Malibu, performance, and the search for beauty inside difficult histories.
For related historical and thematic material, visit mkkkultra.com.
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