a little story, been on my mind for some time now.
so, last sunday, a small group of us headed to a northern shanghai park (hour plus out of the city) for a birthday picnic.
now a park in china, isnt just like any old park. this park had a rollar-coaster, a flying fox/rope type contraption that swings you over a lake strapped in like a butterfly, acres of green grass to SIT ON (a rarity in china, most parks you can look at the grass but not touch), roses to smell, horses to ride, brides to watch their wedding pictures being taken, bamboo forests to explore, and views on the huangpu river to see...
a beautiful warm shanghai summer day. we sat and ate a gorgeous lunch of mediterrean bread (non sweet bread in china!! OH MY!) olives, dumplings, and filipino spiced kebabs, sitting on a blanket, watching parents play with their kids, flying kites and kicking soccer balls. bliss. it has been years since i have had a picnic in the park. and i miss it. something so utterly relaxing about it. and just to touch grass again...ohhhh after life in haifa and a year in china its a shock to actually find a massive patch to rest on...hmmm childhood memories of lazy weekends by the waiwhetu stream, or running in the bush tracks behind my old house...yum.
the five of us casually strolled around the park, taking it all in, hiring peddle boats and laughing as we exhaust ourselves, and crash into fellow riders...my steering skills were never great!
and as we got off the boats my friend's phone rang.
he picked it up.
it was his family, calling from Iran to wish his wife a happy birthday. you could hear the excitement in his voice, he passed the phone onto his wife, then something happend, a quietness in her voice, a silence, she walked away from the group as tears rolled down her eyes while talking.
Her mother-in law was now on the phone, calling from Evin prison, where she has been held for over a year because of her Baha'i beliefs. The prison allow her to make the occasional phone call. She had called her family in Iran, who were now holding up the phone to another phone (the line that called my friend in Shanghai).
just imagining this.
they had not spoken for a while and were waiting to hear news about her. and now on my friend's birthday she rings from prison barracks in Iran.
What an incredible contrast.
A reality check. As I stand here, free and content with my friends in a park in China.
Her spirits were high, they told me after the phone coversations had ended, but still no word on a trial or any hint of a release. The whole situation is entire breach of human rights.
For those of you reading this and know little about the terrible situation facing Bahai's in Iran refer to this website:
http://news.bahai.org/human-rights/iran/iran-update/
Then I thought more about it, her son, being here in China, and the bounties we have, the service oppurtunities, and her connection to it all, crisis and victory, light and darkness...imagining her praying for her son in her prison cell and now being on the other side, seeing the light and radiance that both he and his wife eminate.
a friend reminded me of this quote of Baha'u'llah that i would like to conclude with...
"Should they cast Him into a fire kindled on the continent, He will assuredly rear His head in the midmost heart of the ocean and proclaim: "He is the Lord of all that are in heaven and all that are on earth!" And if they cast Him into a darksome pit, they will find Him seated on earth's loftiest heights calling aloud to all mankind: "Lo, the Desire of the World is come in His majesty, His sovereignty, His transcendent dominion!" And if He be buried beneath the depths of the earth, His Spirit soaring to the apex of heaven shall peal the summons: "Behold ye the coming of the Glory; witness ye the Kingdom of God, the Most Holy, the Gracious, the All-Powerful!" And if they shed His blood, every drop thereof shall cry out and invoke God in this Name through which the fragrance of His raiment hath been diffused in all directions."
(Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts)
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Acting up...
It's one day before opening.
My first 'proper' play in China.
California Suite by Neil Simon (not exactly chinese but hey!)
Last night we moved into the space for the first time. Big theater, seats 350+ people,in an old art deco style building, big bannisters, furniture that looks like it came out of a vintage film (smells like it hasn't been aired since then also!).
It has been a while.I have been chomping at the bit to act. ever since graduating drama school in 2006, but Haifa called, and then China so acting hasn;t been at the forefront for some time... but it's been constantly in my thoughts,that dream, that vision, that career
goal that you have never really kick started...so finally...here I am. About to tread the boards again...now in Shanghai. exhilarating.
There is something magical about theatre. Both as an actor and as an audience member. It requires a quality of listening,of total mind body and spirit engagement,of deep empathy, that society sometimes steps over its its rush to 'progress'.
That's what's drawn me to it, even as a kid, to be in someone else's shoes for a moment, to see life from their perspective, to hear their stories, to see and feel the struggles that unite us, or divide us, that make us human. The magic of being transported to someone else's world for just an hour or two...
I'm acting with East West Theatre, a semi-professional theatre group, the only english speaking group I have come across so far in Shanghai that consistently puts on shows.
We are a mix of nationalities - from the US, to South Africa, to China, to England, Singapore and New Zealand (hehe). Most of us come from a background in drama, either having studied it at uni or worked professionally in the field before coming to China. It's a transient group, the nature of Shanghai, people always coming and going, but there is a real gun-ho attitude that keeps this company going from strength to strength, I mean it's totally voluntary, and everyone is there because they love it and want to build up more of a scene in Shanghai. And the support is great, from the sponsorship deals with Marks and Spencers, to the set being donated by Sofatel, to stage managers and techies that stay up all hours even when they have their day job early start the next day...that spirit of unity in theater, i love it, a random assortment of people, from all walks of life, coming together for one common love...
So the show we are doing is 'California Suite' a 70's Neil Simon Play, the master of American wit. It's set in a hotel room in LA, and there are four acts of various incidences that could only happen in a hotel room...I'm in the opening act, playing Hannah Warren, a 42 year old New York editor meeting her ex-husband whom she hasn't seen for 9years to discuss the custody of their 17yr old daughter who just ran away from her to LA. It's written like a round of gun fire, with witty bantering back and forth nearly the whole time,it's all about the timing, the rhythmical language of Neil Simon, but the layers of sadness and desperation that you start unpacking from the seemingly 'light' text...wow...that's what i love about this process...nothing is what it seems...just when you think you have understand a line, another meaning comes...all depending on the quality of listening and responding...yum.
The other scenes include a wife who catches her husband cheating on her, a closet couple from England on their way to the Oscars, a group of friends who have been holidaying together for too long and things start to get very tense...yep, the joy's of hotel life.
We had a very short rehearsal period, only like three weeks...but as theater tends to do, it is coming together nicely...
And as fate would have it, this weekend the director of NZ Drama school, my old stomping grounds, and the head of acting + fellow students just happen to be visiting Shanghai for a conference...and may pay a visit...slightly nerve wracking considering this is my first 'big' theater gig since graduating, but also a kinda blessing in a way...to get honest, clear and concise feedback and support from those who know you and witnessed your growth in the rigorous (and sometimes horrific) three year drama school training process...
Time to put it into practise...heheeeeee
My first 'proper' play in China.
California Suite by Neil Simon (not exactly chinese but hey!)
Last night we moved into the space for the first time. Big theater, seats 350+ people,in an old art deco style building, big bannisters, furniture that looks like it came out of a vintage film (smells like it hasn't been aired since then also!).
It has been a while.I have been chomping at the bit to act. ever since graduating drama school in 2006, but Haifa called, and then China so acting hasn;t been at the forefront for some time... but it's been constantly in my thoughts,that dream, that vision, that career
goal that you have never really kick started...so finally...here I am. About to tread the boards again...now in Shanghai. exhilarating.
There is something magical about theatre. Both as an actor and as an audience member. It requires a quality of listening,of total mind body and spirit engagement,of deep empathy, that society sometimes steps over its its rush to 'progress'.
That's what's drawn me to it, even as a kid, to be in someone else's shoes for a moment, to see life from their perspective, to hear their stories, to see and feel the struggles that unite us, or divide us, that make us human. The magic of being transported to someone else's world for just an hour or two...
I'm acting with East West Theatre, a semi-professional theatre group, the only english speaking group I have come across so far in Shanghai that consistently puts on shows.
We are a mix of nationalities - from the US, to South Africa, to China, to England, Singapore and New Zealand (hehe). Most of us come from a background in drama, either having studied it at uni or worked professionally in the field before coming to China. It's a transient group, the nature of Shanghai, people always coming and going, but there is a real gun-ho attitude that keeps this company going from strength to strength, I mean it's totally voluntary, and everyone is there because they love it and want to build up more of a scene in Shanghai. And the support is great, from the sponsorship deals with Marks and Spencers, to the set being donated by Sofatel, to stage managers and techies that stay up all hours even when they have their day job early start the next day...that spirit of unity in theater, i love it, a random assortment of people, from all walks of life, coming together for one common love...
So the show we are doing is 'California Suite' a 70's Neil Simon Play, the master of American wit. It's set in a hotel room in LA, and there are four acts of various incidences that could only happen in a hotel room...I'm in the opening act, playing Hannah Warren, a 42 year old New York editor meeting her ex-husband whom she hasn't seen for 9years to discuss the custody of their 17yr old daughter who just ran away from her to LA. It's written like a round of gun fire, with witty bantering back and forth nearly the whole time,it's all about the timing, the rhythmical language of Neil Simon, but the layers of sadness and desperation that you start unpacking from the seemingly 'light' text...wow...that's what i love about this process...nothing is what it seems...just when you think you have understand a line, another meaning comes...all depending on the quality of listening and responding...yum.
The other scenes include a wife who catches her husband cheating on her, a closet couple from England on their way to the Oscars, a group of friends who have been holidaying together for too long and things start to get very tense...yep, the joy's of hotel life.
We had a very short rehearsal period, only like three weeks...but as theater tends to do, it is coming together nicely...
And as fate would have it, this weekend the director of NZ Drama school, my old stomping grounds, and the head of acting + fellow students just happen to be visiting Shanghai for a conference...and may pay a visit...slightly nerve wracking considering this is my first 'big' theater gig since graduating, but also a kinda blessing in a way...to get honest, clear and concise feedback and support from those who know you and witnessed your growth in the rigorous (and sometimes horrific) three year drama school training process...
Time to put it into practise...heheeeeee
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