I did not arrive at the WeRESTART centre in the most positive frame of mind. We were still short of an actor, and though we had a plan to deal with at least part of this, with Connie taking on the role of Ahmad, she had texted to say she could not come today. Which left me wondering what rehearsal we could tackle this evening. Cristina from WeRESTART was there, and was as positive as ever, with good news re funding , re venues during Refugee Week, re the possibility of using the space we were in as a performance venue.
Hamed was there of course, and Neta, a young Iranian girl, who has proved to be most reliable and prepared to tackle whatever is asked of her. Others trickled in, with the usual array of transport difficulties, even Ali, turning up very late. But even with good numbers, and Yehia there to document the process, I was still finding it difficult to see a way forward. Cristina (our actress, the other Cristina) was as enthusiastic and positive as ever, and as is her method, was trying to introduce a more physical approach, less naturalistic, particularly in reference to showing the journey across the channel by boat. By placing Hamed at the centre of the scene, possibly with a spotlight on him, the scene can be shown far more as a reflection of what is going on in his head. And, more as a way of doing at least something, we had a look at restaging our idea.
As it happened, and especially with the arrival of Ali (in the nick of time, as it happened – we had just reached his section) the result was not as stylised as we had thought, with in fact most people back in “the boat”… and actually just one actor (still!) short. But we had made some progress, and did at last think that we were starting to make some progress. Everyone was involved… which was a huge positive. And as a bonus, we found a way to transition from the boat into the classroom scene that finishes the play.
So in the end, I left feeling rather more positive. There is no doubt but that we are struggling: to find a cast, to move the rehearsal on, to keep everyone motivated. But struggle ius at the soul of all art, and perhaps all the more so performance art, which demands collaboration, multi-media, movement… But we do have a vision of what we might achieve. All aboard!
