I have arranged to meet with Vice this afternoon to see if we can bash an outline for the play out today. Taking from our notes, but also our impressions from the last five days of rehearsal, it is my sincere hope that he and I are thinking along the same lines. I don't really thinking it is as bad as I am making it out to be since he & I have established a good working relationship since the first day and have been talking through our ideas throghout the rehearsal period. So , I am not anticipating any bombshells or a completely different take on the play.
I spend the morning working on my own version of an outline and present it to him over lunch at Steers, where every inch of their menu is devoted to all things meat related, where there are pictures of giant 'steak burgers' that were voted 'Johannesburg's favourite burger 2oo8 and 2oo9. The décor is Texas / New Mexico flavoured with pictures of animals of the cow variety decorating the walls & windows. Quite how two vegetarians arrived at this restaurant and thought it was a good idea is beyond me, but Vice suggested it so I figured he knew what he was doing
We sit down & do not immediately order, we break out our notebooks and both of our computers. We look so urbane in Steers, with our laptops clicking away whilst everyone around is licking their lips and digging into another pound of flesh.
We both break out our outlines and, lo & behold, we are on the same track. But it is interesting how we have presented our work. My outline has very little text, but completely tracks the entire play. His has snipbits of texts and how he would edit the transcripts. Like director & playwright......... but they fit together quite nicely. We finish our meeting in under three hours with a rough, but solid play outline.
By this time, the kind waitress would really like us to order, so skimming the menu quickly as 98% of it is obviously beef-friendly, we both settle on the salad bar. Again, how urbane. I am surprised that we weren't run out on a rail.......
Back at home, I relax with my Chris Hani book and spend some time working on the outline. I also begin to prepare for tomorrow's rehearsal. After a couple of days off, I am looking forward to getting back into the rehearsal room. I am excited to see how the actors react to our work and to see how they can improve it. They are a giving bunch, without an ego amongst them. They are really giving of themselves to this project. I could not have been luckier with choosing my colleagues.
Thursday, 18 February 2010
Saturday 13 February 2o1o:
Today is a lovely day – though still hot & humid, I have learned not to complain too much as it is snowing in London and New York & DC are apparently shut down due to snow. So, I will take the humidity with humility.
Yesterday I purchased a new book on the life of Chris Hani. He is a former freedom fighter who was assassinated in 1993. But before then, he said:
'Socialism is not about big concepts and heavy theory. Socialism is about decent shelter for those who are homeless. It is about water for those who have no safe drinking water. It is about healthcare, it is about a life of dignity for the old. It is about overcoming the huge divide between urban and rural areas. It is about education for all or our people. Socialism is about rolling back the tyranny of the market. As long as the economy is dominated by an unelected, privileged few, the case for socialism will exist.'
I have carried that quote around in my wallet (I know an odd place for such a quote) for over 6 years. I found it during my first trip to South Africa in 2oo3. I was here in April, on the 10th anniversary of his death and their was much news coverage of him. I had no idea who he was (exactly like the 30 plus names who signed Sonny's 'bible' – I knew 'the big four' – Kathrada, Mandela, Sisulu & Mbeki). But this quote spoke to me. Absolutely.
I don't know much about Marx or Engel, but I do know that I am absolutely angry that we don't have universal education or healthcare, that the gap between the rich & poor has never been wider. And that so many people don't care what happens outside of their white picket fence.
I was asked at the last rehearsal why the story of Robben Island and Sonny's 'bible' interested me. I babbled incoherently because I have lived with it for so long, it has just become a part of me. I should have said, 'Because I am angry. And these men give me hope.'
Read about Chris Hani. He deserves, like all of the men who signed the 'bible,' to be know and admired.
Yesterday I purchased a new book on the life of Chris Hani. He is a former freedom fighter who was assassinated in 1993. But before then, he said:
'Socialism is not about big concepts and heavy theory. Socialism is about decent shelter for those who are homeless. It is about water for those who have no safe drinking water. It is about healthcare, it is about a life of dignity for the old. It is about overcoming the huge divide between urban and rural areas. It is about education for all or our people. Socialism is about rolling back the tyranny of the market. As long as the economy is dominated by an unelected, privileged few, the case for socialism will exist.'
I have carried that quote around in my wallet (I know an odd place for such a quote) for over 6 years. I found it during my first trip to South Africa in 2oo3. I was here in April, on the 10th anniversary of his death and their was much news coverage of him. I had no idea who he was (exactly like the 30 plus names who signed Sonny's 'bible' – I knew 'the big four' – Kathrada, Mandela, Sisulu & Mbeki). But this quote spoke to me. Absolutely.
I don't know much about Marx or Engel, but I do know that I am absolutely angry that we don't have universal education or healthcare, that the gap between the rich & poor has never been wider. And that so many people don't care what happens outside of their white picket fence.
I was asked at the last rehearsal why the story of Robben Island and Sonny's 'bible' interested me. I babbled incoherently because I have lived with it for so long, it has just become a part of me. I should have said, 'Because I am angry. And these men give me hope.'
Read about Chris Hani. He deserves, like all of the men who signed the 'bible,' to be know and admired.
Friday 12 February 2o1o:
Last day of transcripts & chosen quotes. We finish off with Eddie Daniels, who begins to recapture our passion of the Struggle saying, ' the Apartheid government has to attempt to please 4 million people, the democratic government has to attempt to please 40 million.'
This gives us the perspective that change is a long process, but it still does not excuse the actions of politicians who believe they deserve their bling lifestyle because they gave years of their lives to the Struggle – what about those who lived under Apartheid in shacks and still are? Surely they 'struggled' as much as you, but have not received the benefits, the accoutrements as Saths calls it, of political office?
We also read through Shakespeare's Sonnets that were chosen by some of the men. My appreciation and love of his Sonnets have grown throughout this process. As seen through the eyes of a South African revolutionary, these Sonnets takes on a whole new meaning:
Sonnet no: 25:
‘Let those who are in favour with their stars
Of public honour and proud titles boast,
Whilst I, whom fortune of such triumph bars,
Unlook'd for joy in that I honour most.
Great princes' favourites their fair leaves spread
But as the marigold at the sun's eye,
And in themselves their pride lies buried,
For at a frown they in their glory die.
The painful warrior famoused for fight,
After a thousand victories once foil'd,
Is from the book of honour razed quite,
And all the rest forgot for which he toil'd:
Then happy I, that love and am belov'd,
Where I may not remove nor be removed.’
or this one,
Sonnet no 30:
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sign the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste.
Then can I drown an eye, unus’d to flow,
For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night,
And weep afresh love’s long since cancell’d woe,
And moan th’ expense of many a vanish’d sight.
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o’er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned mona,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restor’d, and sorrows end.'
it is a humid & hot day. And we are in a stuffy rehearsal room. And it is a Friday. So, needless to say, there is more yawning than usual and the scenes created are a bit more absurd -
One is taken from a story of Eddie's when he and Kwede dreamt up the idea of a helicopter rescue of Nelson Mandela whilst on Robben Island. The actors have transformed the scene into a children's fantasy (not a stretch from the original idea, I must say) where Mandela is pulled out of his cell and put onto a waiting escape helicopter.
Mnedesi says, 'When I was growing up, we didn't play cops & robbers, we played freedom fighters who flew helicopters onto Robben Island to rescue Mandela & the others.'
We finish for the week. I am looking forward to the weekend to a day off to let things process a bit. I have also arranged to meet with Vice for a long lunch, with plenty of beers, on Sunday to discuss how the play is shaping up.
We have one week left.... Gulp.
I just have to keep on remembering that creating a crisis is a good thing..... right....
This gives us the perspective that change is a long process, but it still does not excuse the actions of politicians who believe they deserve their bling lifestyle because they gave years of their lives to the Struggle – what about those who lived under Apartheid in shacks and still are? Surely they 'struggled' as much as you, but have not received the benefits, the accoutrements as Saths calls it, of political office?
We also read through Shakespeare's Sonnets that were chosen by some of the men. My appreciation and love of his Sonnets have grown throughout this process. As seen through the eyes of a South African revolutionary, these Sonnets takes on a whole new meaning:
Sonnet no: 25:
‘Let those who are in favour with their stars
Of public honour and proud titles boast,
Whilst I, whom fortune of such triumph bars,
Unlook'd for joy in that I honour most.
Great princes' favourites their fair leaves spread
But as the marigold at the sun's eye,
And in themselves their pride lies buried,
For at a frown they in their glory die.
The painful warrior famoused for fight,
After a thousand victories once foil'd,
Is from the book of honour razed quite,
And all the rest forgot for which he toil'd:
Then happy I, that love and am belov'd,
Where I may not remove nor be removed.’
or this one,
Sonnet no 30:
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sign the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste.
Then can I drown an eye, unus’d to flow,
For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night,
And weep afresh love’s long since cancell’d woe,
And moan th’ expense of many a vanish’d sight.
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o’er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned mona,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restor’d, and sorrows end.'
it is a humid & hot day. And we are in a stuffy rehearsal room. And it is a Friday. So, needless to say, there is more yawning than usual and the scenes created are a bit more absurd -
One is taken from a story of Eddie's when he and Kwede dreamt up the idea of a helicopter rescue of Nelson Mandela whilst on Robben Island. The actors have transformed the scene into a children's fantasy (not a stretch from the original idea, I must say) where Mandela is pulled out of his cell and put onto a waiting escape helicopter.
Mnedesi says, 'When I was growing up, we didn't play cops & robbers, we played freedom fighters who flew helicopters onto Robben Island to rescue Mandela & the others.'
We finish for the week. I am looking forward to the weekend to a day off to let things process a bit. I have also arranged to meet with Vice for a long lunch, with plenty of beers, on Sunday to discuss how the play is shaping up.
We have one week left.... Gulp.
I just have to keep on remembering that creating a crisis is a good thing..... right....
Thursday 11 February 2o1o:
Another monumental day in South African history. I feel very fortunate to be here on the 20th Anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela. But strangely, the country itself isn't nearly as excited as us foreigners are.
There is plenty of news coverage, stories and remembrances, but the young actors with whom I am working along with everyone else I meet, isn't terribly interested or excited. This sense of deflation is also evident in the devising of The Robben Island Bible.
There is a palpable sense of let-down within the community who voted in the ANC in 1994 & in each election since. Little has changed for those who live in townships & shacks around the country. Saths Coopers speaks eloquently about this let-down especially for young South Africans,
My two sons, the one is 20 and the other is 22 and my daughter is 16 and all of them know that if you want to get anywhere, if you want to get the lucrative contract, and tenders, the join X organization now so that you will take care of the future in a few years time. And that has, in a sense, developed a cynicism amongst youth that is dangerous because youth cannot afford to be cynical about anything. Sceptical yes, because you are questioning – you want to know what so and so is saying is correct or not. They want to challenge, but the cynicism that is developing is a legacy of leadership that has tended to look after itself, has tended to look after those who are close to them and then created a terrible model for youth to follow.
The State of the Nation address is this evening. President Jacob Zuma has chosen this date to address South Africans. Nelson Mandela is there as are other former freedom fighters (and several RIB signatories). Like other country's addresses, he is long on programmes, but short on the funding of these programmes. He rekindles the spirit of the Struggle at every available moment, but the audience is, as Saths says above, much more cynical than before.
'Passion,' one South African actor said to me recently, 'does not put food on the table.'
South Africans had the passion for change in 1994, but little has improved for the vast majority of them.
So the anniversary and State of the Nation address pass with little hoopla.
In the rehearsal room, we are continuing to develop scenes & characters. We carry on reading the transcripts & chosen texts. The actors are now looking specifically at the veterans. Their monologues go over very well & give Vice & I a lot to go on. They have found the most resonance passages of the transcripts for them & performed it.
Vice & I have a lively discussion with the actors regarding our thoughts on the framing and through line for the play. Generally, everyone is in line, though the seems to be a much more militarist view towards the interrogation by the younger generation of the older one. One that gets to ask, 'Why hasn't things changed more? Why did we compromise rather than liberate? When did self- aggrandizement become the norm of the political class & the well connected than the betterment of all? Again, Saths Cooper,
The politicians tend to collect the acoochama of power and whatever else goes with it as privilege and then justify it as 'entitlement.' They see it as something they have given a certain part of their lives for and, 'Sure enough, that is what I deserve.' And that is terrible thing. And it tends to corrode even the best of souls. So the politicians, going with that, will get fat, literally and otherwise.
This leads to a scene where a former freedom fighter (who vaguely sounds a bit like a former president), gets kidnapped and put on trial by young men who are asking these very questions. It is powerful, but frightening stuff. But this political heavyweight hasn't lost his touch and soon turns the tables on the young men in questioning their urgency and their commitment for change. He asks them, 'What are you contributing to your country? I spent 27 years imprisoned for you to have a vote and what have you done with that right?'
We leave the rehearsal room swirling with possibilities.
There is plenty of news coverage, stories and remembrances, but the young actors with whom I am working along with everyone else I meet, isn't terribly interested or excited. This sense of deflation is also evident in the devising of The Robben Island Bible.
There is a palpable sense of let-down within the community who voted in the ANC in 1994 & in each election since. Little has changed for those who live in townships & shacks around the country. Saths Coopers speaks eloquently about this let-down especially for young South Africans,
My two sons, the one is 20 and the other is 22 and my daughter is 16 and all of them know that if you want to get anywhere, if you want to get the lucrative contract, and tenders, the join X organization now so that you will take care of the future in a few years time. And that has, in a sense, developed a cynicism amongst youth that is dangerous because youth cannot afford to be cynical about anything. Sceptical yes, because you are questioning – you want to know what so and so is saying is correct or not. They want to challenge, but the cynicism that is developing is a legacy of leadership that has tended to look after itself, has tended to look after those who are close to them and then created a terrible model for youth to follow.
The State of the Nation address is this evening. President Jacob Zuma has chosen this date to address South Africans. Nelson Mandela is there as are other former freedom fighters (and several RIB signatories). Like other country's addresses, he is long on programmes, but short on the funding of these programmes. He rekindles the spirit of the Struggle at every available moment, but the audience is, as Saths says above, much more cynical than before.
'Passion,' one South African actor said to me recently, 'does not put food on the table.'
South Africans had the passion for change in 1994, but little has improved for the vast majority of them.
So the anniversary and State of the Nation address pass with little hoopla.
In the rehearsal room, we are continuing to develop scenes & characters. We carry on reading the transcripts & chosen texts. The actors are now looking specifically at the veterans. Their monologues go over very well & give Vice & I a lot to go on. They have found the most resonance passages of the transcripts for them & performed it.
Vice & I have a lively discussion with the actors regarding our thoughts on the framing and through line for the play. Generally, everyone is in line, though the seems to be a much more militarist view towards the interrogation by the younger generation of the older one. One that gets to ask, 'Why hasn't things changed more? Why did we compromise rather than liberate? When did self- aggrandizement become the norm of the political class & the well connected than the betterment of all? Again, Saths Cooper,
The politicians tend to collect the acoochama of power and whatever else goes with it as privilege and then justify it as 'entitlement.' They see it as something they have given a certain part of their lives for and, 'Sure enough, that is what I deserve.' And that is terrible thing. And it tends to corrode even the best of souls. So the politicians, going with that, will get fat, literally and otherwise.
This leads to a scene where a former freedom fighter (who vaguely sounds a bit like a former president), gets kidnapped and put on trial by young men who are asking these very questions. It is powerful, but frightening stuff. But this political heavyweight hasn't lost his touch and soon turns the tables on the young men in questioning their urgency and their commitment for change. He asks them, 'What are you contributing to your country? I spent 27 years imprisoned for you to have a vote and what have you done with that right?'
We leave the rehearsal room swirling with possibilities.
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Wednesday 10 February:
today was a good day. It felt 'regular' – like we are getting into a routine and we are making progress. It felt like everyone knew their jobs and it was making sense. Transcripts in the morning & scene / character development in the afternoon.
Today, we are looking at the Former Political Prisoners themselves. Just before lunch, I ask each of the actors to choose their 'favourite' two FPP's. Their assignment after lunch is to come up with a two minute monologue which incorporates some of the Shakespearian texts & the transcripts. They attack this task with gusto. I think that they are excited to have the focus on the Veterans who are the centre of this play. I give them 30 minutes to edit down a monologue, which they do exceedingly well.
Dan portrays Sonny.
Omphile portrays Saths
Mnetisci portrays Michael
&
Kabelo portrays Theo.
Having never seen the men or watched the interview tapes, all they could rely upon are the transcripts & their creativity. I dont want them to watch the tapes before committing to creating something based on the transcripts & their artistry. This, I think, prevents them from trying to immitate them ratehr than find their essential traits, which is within the transcripts.
They perform their monologues & we hotseat them to further develop the FPP characters.
Afterwards, we brainstorm all of the scenes that they remember having created over the last three days. We also prepare questions for Saths Cooper who will be coming to the theatre on Tuesday.
Their homework is to create another monologue based on another of the Veterans. I look forward to seeing them tomorrow......
Today, we are looking at the Former Political Prisoners themselves. Just before lunch, I ask each of the actors to choose their 'favourite' two FPP's. Their assignment after lunch is to come up with a two minute monologue which incorporates some of the Shakespearian texts & the transcripts. They attack this task with gusto. I think that they are excited to have the focus on the Veterans who are the centre of this play. I give them 30 minutes to edit down a monologue, which they do exceedingly well.
Dan portrays Sonny.
Omphile portrays Saths
Mnetisci portrays Michael
&
Kabelo portrays Theo.
Having never seen the men or watched the interview tapes, all they could rely upon are the transcripts & their creativity. I dont want them to watch the tapes before committing to creating something based on the transcripts & their artistry. This, I think, prevents them from trying to immitate them ratehr than find their essential traits, which is within the transcripts.
They perform their monologues & we hotseat them to further develop the FPP characters.
Afterwards, we brainstorm all of the scenes that they remember having created over the last three days. We also prepare questions for Saths Cooper who will be coming to the theatre on Tuesday.
Their homework is to create another monologue based on another of the Veterans. I look forward to seeing them tomorrow......
Tuesday 9 February:
We carry on allow the same schedule as before. After an exhillerating first day, there is always a bit of a let down in energy in the second. But we didnt let that affect out work. We read through the transcripts in the morning, then developed scenes & characters based on the transcripts. Once the scenes were developed & performed, I asked them to focus on the characters within the scenes. We did a physical charactre building exercise, then we hotseated the characters – getting them to sit in the chair and answer questions about themselves. This allows the actor to further develop the character he is working on. The results are wonderful – both funny and heartbreaking.
In working like this, you tend to work through the stereotyped characters before settling onto more nuanced ones. Although funny, the ones that get you are the simple quiet & determined characters. And we had all sorts of them – from a wheeling & dealing business man who can 'get you anything you want – from a new Nissan car engine to a tin of beans' all the while making ' a six figure salary' to a farm labouror who 'just needed to work to send money home' to a former MK foot soldier who was suffering from post tramatic stress disorder, was one helluva plumber, but didn't know his place in this new democracy of South Africa where the white men has had been shooting at were now his commanders. He had fought for liberation from, not compromise with the white man.
That evening, Tod & I stay late at the theatre to see the show, The Pen. Very nice – well acted, simply staged and effected. Plus not starting till 8.15pm and at one hour and 15 minutes, it gave us plenty of time between rehearsal & the performance to have a couple of ice cold Castles, which I justified as well deserved.
Masie met us after the play and drove us home. We have now graduated from mini buses to private cars. The socialist in me isn't happy, but my legs & bottom are....
In working like this, you tend to work through the stereotyped characters before settling onto more nuanced ones. Although funny, the ones that get you are the simple quiet & determined characters. And we had all sorts of them – from a wheeling & dealing business man who can 'get you anything you want – from a new Nissan car engine to a tin of beans' all the while making ' a six figure salary' to a farm labouror who 'just needed to work to send money home' to a former MK foot soldier who was suffering from post tramatic stress disorder, was one helluva plumber, but didn't know his place in this new democracy of South Africa where the white men has had been shooting at were now his commanders. He had fought for liberation from, not compromise with the white man.
That evening, Tod & I stay late at the theatre to see the show, The Pen. Very nice – well acted, simply staged and effected. Plus not starting till 8.15pm and at one hour and 15 minutes, it gave us plenty of time between rehearsal & the performance to have a couple of ice cold Castles, which I justified as well deserved.
Masie met us after the play and drove us home. We have now graduated from mini buses to private cars. The socialist in me isn't happy, but my legs & bottom are....
Monday 8 February 2o1o:
I didnt get a good night sleep, not really worried, but more excited about starting tomorrow. This is the part I understand, the rehearsing. This is the part that I know best, so have the greatest chance of failing. I am confident, but after 7 years of waiting, needless to say I am a bit nervous.
Having met all of the actors last week, I come to the theatre ready to work. Everyone is there on time, having done their homework of reading the transcripts & the chosen quotes and are ready to se e how this play develops.
Although they dont say it, I think that they are a bit sceptical about my process – that is, I have very few pre-consieved ideas of how the play should look. I want to stress the Leadership Qualities of the Veterans as well as the Shakespearian characters, but other than that, the sky is blue. I guess that it is a bit nerve wracking, but I believe in the pressure cooker form of creating art. Two weeks and out. I would have been bored in Russia. I want to, as Anne Bogart says, 'create a crisis' in order to get it out of the way. Plus, no matter what happens, save the end of the world, the 19th of February will come and it really doesn't care about my play. Like it or not, something will have to be presented on that day – the last day of the workshop process. So, I might as well enjoy the pressure.....
We begin the morning gently with a reading of the transcripts – we start with Kwede, Andrew& Ahmed, from the first interview conducted during the Research Phase in 2008
They had this to say at that time,
Ahmed Kathrada:
My trouble is, as I pointed out immediately, I just can’t imagine myself having chosen that passage. I don’t understand the passage. I don’t know what to say about it One has to read it in its context. I mean, I have got my Complete Works here which was with me on the island where I marked hundreds of passages - just things that I liked. This passage is not there. The passage made no impact on me. Years and years ago, I went through very hurriedly the Complete Works when I had nothing else to do, but there were passages that made an impact, which I can't off hand remember. Some of them of course I do... Off hand I remember, because I quoted it at the memorial service of Walter Sizulu, a former Robben Islander. I quoted that, 'His life was gentle; and the elements; So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up, And say to all the world, THIS WAS A MAN!
Andrew Mlengeni:
I agree with what Kathrada is saying. We were ill prepared for this interview especially because I don’t think that we were well informed as to what it is that you people want. What do you want us to do and so on and so forth. I said over the telephone this morning, I just had no idea, I said, 'What is this 'Robben Island Bible' ? What is it that people want to do? The quotation mentioned there was not chosen by me. Although somebody says that I marked it some years back. I don’t know the reason for me for choosing that quotation. But the one that I do slightly, I was trying to look for it right now and I can't find it - the one quotation that I always liked was the one that says, 'uneasy that lies the head that wears the crown.' And I understood that at that time, I don’t know if my understanding was correct but if you are a king.... today you can talk of the President... of a country.... but if you are a king, you you you don’t ever feel safe. You are always saying, 'Who's plotting to bring me down? Who's plotting against me?'
Kwede Mkalipi:
Well, more or less I agree with my colleagues here. I have also not sure what we are coming here for. So, because even this quote is not the quote that I had prepared myself. Well, ah, if I were to come in, I would also quote the same man Shakespeare, this same Macbeth that has been chosen because it always had a profound meaning to me. The passage I used to like very much was the one when Lady Macbeth, after he has done everything wrong, have to come out and then says, she says, 'All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.' And that sigh that says, 'Oh, oh, oh.' And then another person says, 'Oh, what a sigh is there! The heart is sorely charg’d.' So that was then that the meaning to me then that, eh, you know the teach us that Apartheid was done on the people. And then ah, I just likened it, you know, to Lady Macbeth to the type of system then that was existing. That, ah, whatever could have been done, nothing could ever purify this system of Apartheid and so then therefore, when, then she says, ' All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand', it meant then that you could bring everything in but the damage that is done by the system of Apartheid can never be repaid. And that is why it was said, the people was saying 'Let us go and kill the people who have done this.' It makes one want to kill them in order to get out of this. Because nothing can ever bring justice to what has happened to us. SO that is the system that it was.
We spend the morning with the transcripts and, although as actors naturally they wanted to get up and 'act' I know that it is important to establish the foundation of the play which are these transcripts & the chosen Shakespearian quotes. So, I keep steady the course.
After a while, the actors begin to relax into the transcripts and begin to find the humour and sadness in them,
Have they confirmed that Mobbs is dead?’ (Kw)
‘Yea, Mobbs is dead’ (Ka)
‘Ohhh,’ (Kw)
‘Actually, he disappeared from the face of the earth.’ (Ka)
‘Ohhh,’ (Kw)
‘So the suspicion was that while he was being smuggled out from Port Elizabeth to Lesotho, they captured him & killed him.’ (Ka)
‘He was killed by the police’ (Ml)
‘Ohhh, shame. But was his grave, Where was he grave found?’ (Kw)
‘No, nothing…’ (Ka)
‘We know that he was dead, but we don’t know where he was killed.’ (Ml)
‘This is just one of the speculations’ (Ka)
‘Mmmm,’ (Kw)
‘He was definitely killed by the police….’(Ml)
‘Every now & then we are reading of people’s graves who are being unearthed –
‘Mmmmmm,’ (Ml)
Ka:
- last, about two weeks ago, they found about 11 graves?
‘Yes,’ (Kw)
Ka:
The freedom park is going systematically to track down the graves of people who, their families don’t know where they were. If they were buried at all or they were dumped at sea. We just don’t know for some of them. But they are making all sorts of efforts to track them down
MI:
We are dealing with a vicious enemy…
‘Oh, yes.’ (Kw)
‘And the enemy had to be ruthlessly destroyed too. But we were not fortunately enough to destroy the enemy ruthlessly, (laughter). Because we ended that by by negotiations. But our intentions was to destroy the enemy ruthlessly when they were oh so ruthless to us. (ML)
So after spending the morning with the transcripts & Shakespeare quotes, in the afternoon, I ask them to compose scenes based on what they read that morning. They had to use minimum words to express their scene and any words used must be taken from the transcripts.
This was the first 'shot across the bow' for me as a director – if they understood this methodology of working,then the two weeks would be a joy, if they balked or held back, we would all be in trouble.
Needless to say, any worry about 'Storytelling' that was in my mind was quickly dismissed by the creative use of the transcripts to make three very different scenes.
I then asked them to perform a chosen text of their liking. 'I dont want an audition piece, but rather I want it to be read as a South African man (themselves today) or a South African Revolutionary (the former political prisoners on Robben Island).
The results were magic.... Omphile read the following text chosen by JB Vusani as a dejected teenager who cared less about humanity, the past & certainly didn't want to hear stories about the Struggle:
(As You Like It )
Act 2, scene 7 lines 140-145:
Jaques:
All the worlds a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms;
Then the whining school-boy, with his satchel....
It was eye-opening to me.
I asked them to carry on reading the transcripts for perparation for tuesday.
I walked out of the rehearsal room floating. I was quiet & a bit overwhelmed. Finally after 7 years of 'talking' I am finally 'walking' and walking in the clouds.
Having met all of the actors last week, I come to the theatre ready to work. Everyone is there on time, having done their homework of reading the transcripts & the chosen quotes and are ready to se e how this play develops.
Although they dont say it, I think that they are a bit sceptical about my process – that is, I have very few pre-consieved ideas of how the play should look. I want to stress the Leadership Qualities of the Veterans as well as the Shakespearian characters, but other than that, the sky is blue. I guess that it is a bit nerve wracking, but I believe in the pressure cooker form of creating art. Two weeks and out. I would have been bored in Russia. I want to, as Anne Bogart says, 'create a crisis' in order to get it out of the way. Plus, no matter what happens, save the end of the world, the 19th of February will come and it really doesn't care about my play. Like it or not, something will have to be presented on that day – the last day of the workshop process. So, I might as well enjoy the pressure.....
We begin the morning gently with a reading of the transcripts – we start with Kwede, Andrew& Ahmed, from the first interview conducted during the Research Phase in 2008
They had this to say at that time,
Ahmed Kathrada:
My trouble is, as I pointed out immediately, I just can’t imagine myself having chosen that passage. I don’t understand the passage. I don’t know what to say about it One has to read it in its context. I mean, I have got my Complete Works here which was with me on the island where I marked hundreds of passages - just things that I liked. This passage is not there. The passage made no impact on me. Years and years ago, I went through very hurriedly the Complete Works when I had nothing else to do, but there were passages that made an impact, which I can't off hand remember. Some of them of course I do... Off hand I remember, because I quoted it at the memorial service of Walter Sizulu, a former Robben Islander. I quoted that, 'His life was gentle; and the elements; So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up, And say to all the world, THIS WAS A MAN!
Andrew Mlengeni:
I agree with what Kathrada is saying. We were ill prepared for this interview especially because I don’t think that we were well informed as to what it is that you people want. What do you want us to do and so on and so forth. I said over the telephone this morning, I just had no idea, I said, 'What is this 'Robben Island Bible' ? What is it that people want to do? The quotation mentioned there was not chosen by me. Although somebody says that I marked it some years back. I don’t know the reason for me for choosing that quotation. But the one that I do slightly, I was trying to look for it right now and I can't find it - the one quotation that I always liked was the one that says, 'uneasy that lies the head that wears the crown.' And I understood that at that time, I don’t know if my understanding was correct but if you are a king.... today you can talk of the President... of a country.... but if you are a king, you you you don’t ever feel safe. You are always saying, 'Who's plotting to bring me down? Who's plotting against me?'
Kwede Mkalipi:
Well, more or less I agree with my colleagues here. I have also not sure what we are coming here for. So, because even this quote is not the quote that I had prepared myself. Well, ah, if I were to come in, I would also quote the same man Shakespeare, this same Macbeth that has been chosen because it always had a profound meaning to me. The passage I used to like very much was the one when Lady Macbeth, after he has done everything wrong, have to come out and then says, she says, 'All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.' And that sigh that says, 'Oh, oh, oh.' And then another person says, 'Oh, what a sigh is there! The heart is sorely charg’d.' So that was then that the meaning to me then that, eh, you know the teach us that Apartheid was done on the people. And then ah, I just likened it, you know, to Lady Macbeth to the type of system then that was existing. That, ah, whatever could have been done, nothing could ever purify this system of Apartheid and so then therefore, when, then she says, ' All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand', it meant then that you could bring everything in but the damage that is done by the system of Apartheid can never be repaid. And that is why it was said, the people was saying 'Let us go and kill the people who have done this.' It makes one want to kill them in order to get out of this. Because nothing can ever bring justice to what has happened to us. SO that is the system that it was.
We spend the morning with the transcripts and, although as actors naturally they wanted to get up and 'act' I know that it is important to establish the foundation of the play which are these transcripts & the chosen Shakespearian quotes. So, I keep steady the course.
After a while, the actors begin to relax into the transcripts and begin to find the humour and sadness in them,
Have they confirmed that Mobbs is dead?’ (Kw)
‘Yea, Mobbs is dead’ (Ka)
‘Ohhh,’ (Kw)
‘Actually, he disappeared from the face of the earth.’ (Ka)
‘Ohhh,’ (Kw)
‘So the suspicion was that while he was being smuggled out from Port Elizabeth to Lesotho, they captured him & killed him.’ (Ka)
‘He was killed by the police’ (Ml)
‘Ohhh, shame. But was his grave, Where was he grave found?’ (Kw)
‘No, nothing…’ (Ka)
‘We know that he was dead, but we don’t know where he was killed.’ (Ml)
‘This is just one of the speculations’ (Ka)
‘Mmmm,’ (Kw)
‘He was definitely killed by the police….’(Ml)
‘Every now & then we are reading of people’s graves who are being unearthed –
‘Mmmmmm,’ (Ml)
Ka:
- last, about two weeks ago, they found about 11 graves?
‘Yes,’ (Kw)
Ka:
The freedom park is going systematically to track down the graves of people who, their families don’t know where they were. If they were buried at all or they were dumped at sea. We just don’t know for some of them. But they are making all sorts of efforts to track them down
MI:
We are dealing with a vicious enemy…
‘Oh, yes.’ (Kw)
‘And the enemy had to be ruthlessly destroyed too. But we were not fortunately enough to destroy the enemy ruthlessly, (laughter). Because we ended that by by negotiations. But our intentions was to destroy the enemy ruthlessly when they were oh so ruthless to us. (ML)
So after spending the morning with the transcripts & Shakespeare quotes, in the afternoon, I ask them to compose scenes based on what they read that morning. They had to use minimum words to express their scene and any words used must be taken from the transcripts.
This was the first 'shot across the bow' for me as a director – if they understood this methodology of working,then the two weeks would be a joy, if they balked or held back, we would all be in trouble.
Needless to say, any worry about 'Storytelling' that was in my mind was quickly dismissed by the creative use of the transcripts to make three very different scenes.
I then asked them to perform a chosen text of their liking. 'I dont want an audition piece, but rather I want it to be read as a South African man (themselves today) or a South African Revolutionary (the former political prisoners on Robben Island).
The results were magic.... Omphile read the following text chosen by JB Vusani as a dejected teenager who cared less about humanity, the past & certainly didn't want to hear stories about the Struggle:
(As You Like It )
Act 2, scene 7 lines 140-145:
Jaques:
All the worlds a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms;
Then the whining school-boy, with his satchel....
It was eye-opening to me.
I asked them to carry on reading the transcripts for perparation for tuesday.
I walked out of the rehearsal room floating. I was quiet & a bit overwhelmed. Finally after 7 years of 'talking' I am finally 'walking' and walking in the clouds.
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