It has been a frustrating time for all of us (but I suppose Hamed and myself especially) desperately trying to complete the cast, so that – at last! – we can start rehearsing. We have reached out to everyone we can think of – old members of Zhvan, people at Legal Aliens (the other theatre group that Hamed and various of the cast also attend), and to the weekly Drama class for asylum-seekers that Hamed and others have been running in the WeRESTART venue. Frustratingly, there have been a few nibbles and promises, meaning we keep thinking we have solved the problem… but then those fade away.
However, just recently, things have suddenly looked up. First of all, there was a young Iranian girl, called Nita; she had come the week I had been ill, so I had missed her, and then no appearance for a couple of weeks. So I had assumed…
But she has been there for the past two weeks, and looks able to cover two small roles: Shirin the influencer, and Sohrab, lne of the people who are in the boat to cross the Channel.
Then I tried, more in hope than expectation, a new number I had been given for Ali, the Sudanese guy who was in the first two shows. He had drifted out of our orbit, and I assumed he had moved on to another part of his life, but then I received a reply, saying he was interested in returning to Drama. And he too has now attended for the past two weeks. His English is just a little better now, though he still struggles with the written word. But there is a great part for him, with not so many lines, but requiring great physicality, and he seems very keen.
But our greatest concern still remained the part of Ahmad, who very much holds the beginning of the play together, played last year by Davood (but who has now drioppoed out because of his own pressures.) We looked at various workarounds, but were also relying on call-outs that Cristina of WeRESTART had sent out.
And one of these bore fruit (fingers firmly crossed.) We had a reply from a Brazilian guy called Kaua; he turned up this week, and was very good. He will also be able to play the final character in the boat, so at last we can start rehearsing properly.
