Back In Town

I am not keen on productions that try to solve all of our love problems. Some of them get lost and others...just have no head or tail. That's not to say a few have not managed it. But when a play is focused on how to find 'The One' then that worries me because it might just be a waste of my time.

Where is My Desi Soul Mate? A new production by Rifco Arts is the first play I have seen this year. I was not expecting the gritty realism of ‘Township Stories’ or the poetic language of Shakespeare or the animation you get when watching John Kani on stage. I just wanted to get into a theatre, sit down and see some characters on stage tell me a story. Okay, not the most gripping production but it made me laugh. For the one hour I was in that theatre, I forgot about the fact that I was turned down for a job a few hours earlier, despite being so upset before I got there. It didn’t matter that my feet was hurting like hell due to the heels I had on. I had left everything at the door and settled down for these characters to tell me their stories. Funny at some points and a little slow at others but it was okay. I saw someone else cry and they made me laugh.

That’s the beauty of theatre, you forget your struggles for an hour or more as you get immersed into the story. My friend once described going to the theatre as going to creative church with the exception that you don’t get to holler and scream because you are not hearing a sermon.

I had forgotten what it was like to sit back and let other people tell you a story you know nothing about. I have really missed that. I must start going out again. I need to get a feel of what the London audience is happy to pay for. Most of all, I need others to challenge my creative mind so I can get my creative juice flowing again. I’m back in town and so it is.

Homecoming

I don't know about you but when I have been away from something for a while it takes a lot of courage and effort to get back into it. Hence, one of the reasons I get so nervous when I have to put anything I’m passionate about on hold. But that’s what I have done for the last 6/7 months. Was keen to learn about a different part of life and work, so I put my writing on hold…don’t get me wrong, I wrote something everyday, my journal, for my eyes only, my rants and musings blog page (every now and gain) letters, articles… you name it.

I was writing but not working my creative juice as far my playwriting was concerned. Opened the last play I was working on this morning and I went blank. I just froze in time because I got scared that I didn’t know how to write anymore. Alan Ayckbourn, where are you??? I need help. Where is your book, The Crafty Art of Playmaking? I need to read that again. Susan Lori-parks, where are you? I am getting my copy of TopdogUnderdog out and I mean right now. Help!!!!!!!!!!

I am really looking forward to writing again but at the same time scared that I may not know how or may not get it right. I want that skill which got me a firs class for playwriting at university back. The question is how do I get it back??? My intuition tells me, Belinda, just WRITE! Write and write because that’s the only way you are going to get back into it and get better.

I also need to get out and see more plays. I can count the number of productions I have seen recently and it is dismal. I won’t tell you.

But I am going to sit down and write. I am going to go out and see more plays. I am coming back home and I don’t care if the butterflies are dancing in the pit of my stomach. I don’t care if I get nervous. I don’t care what the first few feedbacks are going to be like. I am going to write and just keep writing until I get better.

It is a process and here is to my homecoming.

Falling In Love With Shakespeare

If you want me to tell it like it has always been, here it is. The thought of studying Shakespeare back at school was scary. I didn't like or appreciate the language. It was difficult to understand and it really got under my skin. I honestly felt like I was being asked to read the bible for my English literature class.

However, this is the biggest joke of all; I fell in love with Macbeth and Othello. Macbeth till this day remains one of my favourite Shakespeare texts. The dramatic techniques in that text alone, makes me want to write a new play each time I read it.

Othello, you have to fall in love with him, a man of honour and strength, yet so weak and fallible. It goes to show no matter how strong or highly placed you are in life; there is always that one thing something which gets the better of you. In Othello's case, that's Desdemona and if you don't like Iago, I am tempted to ask why.

Imago is that colleague who smiles at you but stabs you in the back and b**ch about you. You that one, that's right, there are lots of Iago's around today. One can never be careful... Crafty, vindictive, spiteful and hateful, you name it, he is the real deal. No messing about on that one.

Those were the texts of Shakespeare I loved as a teenager and still do. But recently, that has changed. I finally fell in love with the boy from Stratford-Upon-Avon, all over.

The Histories, a fistful of plays by William Shakespeare popularly known as the History Cycle, opened in Stratford-Upon-Avon back in 2006 to critical acclaim and rapturous audience response.

Back in 2006, I knew nothing about the Histories. I was just another journalist, chasing after my own story and doing what I love to do best, write my plays. You know how we do it, well, come 2007, I get the opportunity to work with the RSC. Low and behold, I finally get the opportunity to see my first Shakespeare production, Henry V. I loved every minute of it. The dramatic action was consistent. The language was beautiful and sounded great. It was eloquently delivered by the actors. It had humour, it had style and above all, was and still is one of the most memorable piece of theatre I have ever seen. It is an event that will stay with me for a very long time.

This is the part that blew me, English history will take years to explore but Shakespeare’s ability to capture a period of time within these plays is fascinating and had critics rolling over to get the best angle they could on their reviews.

Finally the show comes to London and I have the opportunity to witness the whole cycle of plays in repertoire at the Roundhouse theatre. You bet I didn’t miss a day. I loved every minute of it - Richard II and III, Henry IV Parts I and II, and Henry VI Parts I, II and III – this was my one opportunity to experience English history with Londoners.

For me, Henry VI trilogy will always stand out because it had Chuk Iwuji in the lead role of Henry VI. The RSC did it again, cross-casting and for me, that stood out. It is an experience Iwuji himself describes as “The most joyfully, challenging, frustrating and enlightening experience of my life. I think that just encapsulates professional life anyway.”

To see one man have to suffer and be as helpless as his character was, despite being a king was truly breathtaking. Breathtaking not because he fought back but because the character of the man that he truly is came through to me as an audience member ever step of the way. Crowned king at 9 months old, that’s a job for anyone to take on. Yet he remained true to himself. You could call him an ineffective king because the actions of others move him about and I personally believe his decision making ability is crap. But who is to say, a king cannot have a heart.

The level of hatred which existed between the house of York and Lancaster was terrifying. Everyone made claim to the throne. People switched allegiance to the king and each other like they were changing their electricity or gas supplier.

I can truly say, without a doubt, this has been one of those moments where you experience a form of theatre you are not used to and you say WOW! I loved every minute of it. The characters, the staging, costumes, lighting, stage design and the music, was marvellous.

To sum it up, I was part of history and that is what theatre should always be about.

Image: Chuk Iwuhi as Henry VI
Credit: Ellie Kurtz and the RSC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2008/04/21/yourstories_shakespeare_histories_feature.shtml

Shows Through Time

The stage for all its faults is also a strong place for telling it like it is and having no need to apologise.

I have seen a few productions in the years past, even prevous year that have stayed with me for the right reasons. If you are yet to see 'Da Kink In My Hair', I beg you, make time the next time you find out its in town. It will lift your spirit and make you laugh. Trey Anthony is a prolific writer. She knows how to speak to the heart of women.

They are women telling their stories and they tell a good story that is ebullient and thought-provoking.

'The Brothers' by Angie Lamar, helps to understand how men think.

Now if you have never heard of 'TownShip Stories', one words sums it up, Gritty. Just sheer gritty realism.

There were provocative and powerful.

Selah!

Image: http://www.treyanthony.com/1_1-overview.php

What Makes Theatre Great?

"I deliberately look for colourful people. They're are very right for theatre. Theatre has to be theatrical" - Lanford Wilson

CHARACTERS

If you enjoy anything that stimulates the mind then we have something in common. For me, its theatre. There's something about it which makes it so different to other forms of art. Yes, its live, direct and in you face but its the sheer factor that it is life for all its reality, yet it is not real.

Ever wondered what playwrights think about when they create the characters we come to know for those few hours we sit with them, get to know them, sympathise with them and then fall in love with them if we like them. If not, we are more than hapy to see them go to the gallows.

I imagine its like the process of pregnanacy, just less physical and emotional. As a playwright, you carry a character inside you from the stage of conception and then give birth. Same way, you become a lunatic as you hit the keys, puncnhing those words out and soimetimes, you find you have to say those words out loud; inorder to get a feel and rythmn of what they sound like. Guess what, you become a lunatic for them. Poeple even laugh at you and think you have gone crazy. I know, it has happened to me and still does. I talk to myself on the bus and a little while back, a friend asked me why I was having a converstaion with myself? Though my lips were not moving, the characters had me engrossed deep in converstion and I forgot about my immediate surrondings. They had my full and undivided attention.

Same way, an established playright has a relationship with their characters. It is one of the tricks to creating colourful characters. To know them like you know yourself. However, you must also be able to let them breathe and walk on their own. That's why you have to seperate yourself from them and let them tell their story. Like you would let go of your children, when you know its time to stop babysitting them.

Characters are human beings in play, they have a mind and a will. A personality and can their own decisions. They live like we do. They are vicarious about life and if they are dull and boring, they are not afarid to let it show either. Characters are who they are.

Writing my play has meant a lot of thinking and I am yet to scracth the surface of what makes a great masterpeiece. I get nervous that I am might be going down the route of melodrama but if I don't let it flow like it is now, then how will I be able to correct myself and avoid the melodrama I hate in theatre productions?

Time to get back to the paper right before amd write those words ike tomorrow is the day it gives birth to itself on the live stage.

What's This About?

Now that you can tell without a shadow of doubt, theatre is my second home. Anything live and on stage gets the baby in me kicking. There is something about carrying an idea from its conception stage to the very point where you give birth. The whole process is a beauty, creating characters, giving them a voice, watching them grow and become live characters is unexplainable. You just can't match it.

Writing a stage play to me is the ability to create a world that you believe in, a world you can identify with, a world you have lived in and still live in. Writing is about the writers experiences; it might not be their personal experieince but it is theirs because they lived, witnessed, heard and felt it. It is about using your senses to observe the world around you and bring to life.

I am currently writing a stage play for a proposed dissertation and this blogpage is part of my story to creating a whole new world in the next three months. Starting today, 21 October 2007. What does that mean? Basically, I have the right, power and ability to create a text that you or anyone out there will read and beleive every word of it. At least, I pray and hope so. I also pray you appreciate the slice of life I am able to bring to the table in my own little way. The sum total is for you to agree it is possible.

Along the way, I will learn about Dramatic Action, Climax, Suspense, Characters and Dialogue. It is not a process I take lightly because my audience has entrusted me with the ability to create a work that is truthful to its core. An undiluted version of events from my point of view.

Who is my audience? My audience is anyone that will read this blogpage and my script and is able to interprete it based on their socail and cultural background. This is the point where I tell you that the audience interpretation of any stage work is through the eyes of their own personal experiences. They bring a world and wealth of life to the work and it through that lense, they are able to tell you if you are on point or you wasted your time and their time with your choice of story.

For now, I am going to stop here but I deeply urge you to keep coming back to this page and read as it will be updated regularly. I will tell you about my current work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, bring you previews and reviews of some shows and trust me to tell you more as my stage play develops.

However, I have no intentions of telling you who I am. That doesn't matter. What matters is that this work of creativity creates its own identity.

So We Begin

This is simply my way of ranting on and on about my passion for theatre. I want you to come back everyday and see what's going on right here. This is where its all happening. You will hear about the Royal Shakespeare Company, the London theatre landscape and I'll also tell you about a project I am working on.

There is so much to do, so what are we waiting for? Let's get started, it is going to be one heck of a ride. I promise.

To start off, I will tranfer all previous post from a different page I have been working on. However, the material on that page is more relevant to this page as one dedicated solely to theatre musings.

Watch this space!!!!