A visionary documentary of a brown man's psyche and a razor-sharp conversation with himself, and us, poeticizing the inner and outer madness of navigating today's America."
 
— Stew (Tony-award winner, "Passing Strange")
​a biomythography written & performed by SEAN DEVARE
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In First Violin, writer-performer Sean Devare chronicles his search for, and recreation of the fabled ancestor of the violin, invented by the demon(ized) king Ravana, echoing his song through the underworld of Manhattan.

First Violin: darshan is the latest incarnation of Sean Devare’s ongoing artistic explorations of the epic poem The Ramayan. The gallery after hours becomes a prison, a temple, and a concert hall in a series of autobiographical and musical meditations on the re-creation and reclamation of this king of instruments and symbol of the model minority. Additional music, sound, and performance elements by Luke Santy and Tuânminh A. Đỗ.

​​While few can account for their own lifetime, Devare time-surfs a couple millennia in 'First Violin.' Western and Asian cultures collide and collude in his colorful retelling of the Ramayana, which he reinterprets through inventive autobiographical unmaskings and pop-culture interrogations demonstrating, among many other things, why they don't call it classic rock for nothing.”
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— Richard Gehr (author; writer at Spin, Rolling Stone, Village Voice)
'First Violin: Anugraha EP' debuted for Mabou Mines' SUITE/Space digital festival as an exclusive digital event in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the first in a series of audio experiences that will culminate in a full-length musical performance.
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Devare delights in the tangled signifiers of his own intersectionality. In fact, what 'First Violin'’s poetry conveys more than anything else is the transient nature of metaphors and symbols. Meaning drifts through generations and cultures, and that fluidity is an especially potent tonic for Mr. Devare. His violin becomes a lightning rod for that cultural discovery and the rallying cry for his reinvention."
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— James Bartholomew, AllAboutSolo.com