Uncertainties Of The Road
Had things unfolded according to plan, we would be preparing for a gala event on Thursday May 14, featuring the premiere of the performance piece The Road. No doubt this would have been a fantastic event; rehearsing, rewriting, finalizing costumes, taking care of a thousand little details - all part of mounting a live theatrical production.
It doesn't matter who you are, or where in the world you live, nothing is unfolding according to plan these days. So what can you do but adapt and try to make the best of a bad situation?
As you probably know by now, this winter I worked with the girls, giving them writing prompts to create a performance piece, their reaction to the findings of the Commission on Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women. The way we work together is that I take their words and then edit and assemble them to create a script for them to perform. As far as possible I try to use only the words they have written.
Over the last couple of months, we came to realize as the rest of the word (including Broadway) came to realize that it may be some time until we can enjoy live theatre again. We understand now that in order to have something to show for our efforts this year, we will have to shift formats, from live theatrical performance to video. This means reimagining the words the girls have written from a play script into a video script.
Basically, the fundamental different between a play and film is that a play is a story told with words, a film is a story told with images. We have no shortage of words - the girls were very eloquent and industrious throughout the winter and I have literally hundreds of recipe cards which they wrote their thoughts on.
What we need now are images and that's where our videographer Vanessa Wenzel comes in. What words we do have will have to be edited and pared down, refined and precise.
It's exacting work. Vanessa and I have our work cut out for us this summer. And that's only the beginning. Once we have the script, we will need to film the girls in a variety of settings and yet we don't know as we move forward how that will even be possible. As is the case with the rest of the world, we are at the beck and call of the virus.
There's no road map, no rule book, but we will manage as best we can.
Meanwhile, Helen and her staff continue to adapt, working with the girls in any way they possibly can. They drop off goodies and supplies to the girls' houses. You can see from photos they take the joy this brings them.
Every week, we have a Zoom-style meeting to check in and see how everyone is coping. Using the same format, staff are encouraging the girls to express their feelings though art - some of them are really amazing artists. We will share some of their art work with you in future blogs.
And they are writing, which makes me all kinds of happy. I am a diarist myself, and at such times I think I would go quite mad if I wasn't able to express myself in my diary. I highly recommend it to all of you.
One of our girls, one of my rock star writers, Kris, shared this with us this week and I will leave you with her words.
Stay well, stay safe!
Kris wrote:
Child, you say you know me but you don't know all of me. You only see half of what I am. You cannot see all of me. I have things hidden deep within everyone's mind. I have many scars with different lies. I hide in your mind and you don't even know I'm there. I'll eat you up within a few years. Your body will be covered with scars and your eyes will be glass. Dear child, I'm death in disguise. I'm your depression and I don't plan on letting go. You can act like I'm not there but I'll grow. And grow. And grow. Till I'm all that you can see. I'll disguise myself as you. And you'll hate what you see. I'm your mirror. But you can't break me. I BREAK YOU!!!