A fascinating conversation when Joanna O. who volunteered to translate the play into Polish, asked me about this line:
ANNA
The first fear came out of the blue, over water—
Joanna asked:
what blue? the mood? or literally? sometimes these lines come all of the sudden, out of context, that i feel slightly confused
and my answer:
sure, it can be confusing, they come out of context so that it feels like these different characters all experienced the confusion at the same time. sometimes they understand it, sometimes they don’t, but they are all feeling the same kind of limbo.
in the case of “blue” , however, it can translate to “out of nowhere” — out of the blue is an expression shortened from “out of the clear blue sky” meaning that it came suddenly. is there another expression in polish that has a stronger meaning than just came suddenly? it doesn’t have to translate literally in this case.
This interpretation came up with our Deaf West co-production, too, especially since ASL uses fewer words than we do and the repetition that I use as a device in the play doesn’t work the same way in ASL.
I remember that we had an entire conversation about a line that the Nurse says to a woman whose husband is about to die from acute radiation poisoning: “You are sitting next to a reactor.” To a hearing audience, that means (in the context of the play) ‘You might as well just sit next to the Chernobyl reactor as sit next to your husband; he is just as radioactive and contagious.”
For the ASL audience, our Voice said the line as is but Catherine, our deaf actress, signed “He is very contagious.”
That kept reminding me of a line I heard in Eastern Europe: “All wars are due to bad translation.”
That’s really what made me want to learn ASL. Once I mentioned that to my cast, half of them immediately signed up, along with Amy Hendrickson, the understudy, and two of our audience members! Caitie Hannon, my assistant director for the whole festival, hooked us up with Sonya Wilson, who is a fabulous instructor in ASL. We learn deaf culture as well as signing. It is more fun and eye-opening and TIRING than most things I have tried so far.
I also learned another valuable lesson: when collaborating so that your project can reach a deaf audience, add closed captioning into everything. It seems obvious, but it isn’t something we think about because WE don’t have to. By simply adding closed captioning, you can reach even more people, and hopefully earn their respect as well. Enci, who is heavily involved with Chornobyl but who also is filming a short film this summer (Rebel Without a Car Productions), has insisted on the closed captioning for not only her film, but also for the documentaries leading up to the filming.
Just fascinating new ways of looking at the world.
Here is a joint proposal between the VOICES team and the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council—looking for artists to participate! Email for more information:
PROPOSAL
for
VOICES FROM EAST HOLLYWOOD:
Autobiography of a Neighborhood
Dear Ms. Abeyta and Mr. Miller,
VOICES FROM EAST HOLLYWOOD will connect the neighborhood council with the people who live there, thus narrowing the focus of the neighborhood council by going to directly to the source. Now, some members feel they are imposing their vision onto this neighborhood instead of deriving their vision from voices within the neighborhood.
The East Hollywood Neighborhood Council has invited the creators of VOICES FROM CHORNOBYL to participate in a lengthy partnership that would regularly culminate in opening the council’s doors to a symposium with the people-and specifically children-who live there.
VOICES FROM CHORNOBYL is a play that has been running in various locations in Los Angeles since early 2006—the piece breathes life into real peoples’ stories in an accessible way to any audience. It creates a narrative out of transcripts of about fifty interviews and creates a cohesive story.
Why is it such a powerful experience? The key is that the play is taken from actual words from real people - derived from the experiences of witnesses to the event. We will use a similar process to creating VOICES FROM CHORNOBYL in East Hollywood and share our work and transcripts with the Easy Hollywood Neighborhood Council.
The Fluxus show at Barnsdall would jumpstart this long term project that shows how art can change your part of the world, your neighborhood. Part of the reason that art is dying in low to middle income neighborhoods is because it loses relevance. Using art as an agent of change will not only fling open many doors to the community’s governing bodies, but also bring the neighborhood to the exhibit and in many cases serve as a resident’s first introduction to live art. We believe this first experience will stick because instead of art reflecting life, it is art integrated with life.
How will this all happen?
We will put out all the web media and let people take it in any direction they want. We will present a series of questions and various methods of submitting your answers—school essay and art contests, teaming up with local filmmakers to do “Man on the street” interviews, facebook posts/pictures/videos. Residents can submit a song, a poem, a picture, essay, blogging—we will partner with local businesses for open mic nights and schoolteachers to be sure the students are represented. The only restriction is that you must be currently living in East Hollywood.
An idea of the questions to springboard submissions would be:
~What do you see when you look outside your windows?
~If you could have anything in the world, what would you want in your neighborhood?
~How would you like your neighborhood to change?
This will give the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council a beginning database for focusing our neighborhood’s vision.
There are opportunities for either a rotating or permanent exhibit of our submissions that could change weekly, depending on space.
By intersecting VOICES FROM CHORNOBYL and VOICES FROM EAST HOLLYWOOD, we will hand the story-the plot of the neighborhood’s improvements-to the people living in the settings. Starting a political dialogue has been difficult in East Hollywood; a major challenge to the neighborhood council is bridging the gap between residents and their government, where they can have a voice. A major challenge to live art is relevance–creating an environment in which anyone can participate and understand the different avenues through which they can channel their voice. We feel it is an ideal match.
Filed under: Uncategorized — Cindy Marie Jenkins @ 11:23 pm
In preparation for the Anniversary Readings in April, it was suggested by Corey Blake , a longtime supporter of the project, that I create a smaller-cast version. It makes sense, especially in this shrinking economy. So I jumped on the chance to workshop the piece at The Indy Convergence this February.
Well, the experience is even more than I thought possible. Over the course of these ten days, a core group of seven-ten artists create one peice together, and we all collaborate on side projects. For more information on the other projects, check out my other wordpress blog.
My side project is the six-character version of VOICES FROM CHORNOBYL. Considering it started at twenty-five people and has since been whittled down to ten, this feat seemed impossible. Even at my first rehearsal here in Indiana, as the actors read the monologues from the book and I heard material that hadn’t made the ten-person cut, it wasn’t really clear to me how it could happen. So much material from the interviews deserves to be heard—everyone should know what they thought radiation could look like, and I desperately want to put “A Monologue About A Life Laid Out on Doors” back into the play.
Yet, this evening I set out to accomplish at least half the script. Since the new script is so vastly different from the previous versions—the storytelling is more consistent, while still adding all of the elements which always worked in the past and adding new ones I found through the Demo—the new version actually began to write itself. Not only that, but it clearly pointed to areas in the script which could use some clarification. This new version is turning into a bit of a different animal, but that is entirely the point.
Going back a couple of days, to the first day of the Indy Convergence: everyone had a few minutes to describe their side project to the core group. I jumped into the history of the project and its timeline, then the mission, which breaks down to: make the information as accessible to as many people as possible. Then I talked more about WHY—the challenges the people face now. It’s not a history lesson, it still perserveres as a problem unique to these people.
I saw the faces of these artists, most of whom I had JUST met, change in front of me. It sunk in. I saw it all in their eyes—and almost felt that they were all imagining their own loves ones, and how they would feel if something like this would happen to them. Who knows what ran through their heads.
They are all game and I truly appreciate it. Jumping into this project is easy for no one, never mind people with many other projects on their mind. My core ensemble in Los Angeles is amazing, and neither the play nor the mission of the Anniversary Readings would be anywhere close to where it is now, if it were not for the L.A. ensemble. Yet sharing it with a new audience and new actors IS the mission, begins and completes the goals of this show from its inception.
So all of a sudden, in the middle of the prep for our Inaugural Anniversary Reading—more news to come—I find myself in Indianapolis, with a group of dancers, a composer/musician, actors, directors, and singers. We are the 2nd annual Indy Convergence, a collection of artists who conduct workshops for each other & the community, work together on an Umbrella Project and workshop side projects as well.
My side project is twofold: turning the 10-character version of VOICES FROM CHORNOBYL into a 6-character version, in order to create more accesibility for smaller groups to participate in the reading; as well as reimagine the script for a special co-production with Deaf West Theater in North Hollywood. We will integrate ASL (American Sign Language) and hearing-impaired actors into our ensemble for a special performance.
Considering how lucky I’ve been to have many of the same actors workshop this script with me over the years, I’m pretty intrigued by the thought of hearing the script with new voices and introducing the project to a whole new set of ears.
I already worked out which of the ten characters can be absorbed into each other, and actually found many places where the script gets repetitive. I’m hoping to truly work out the kinks over these next two weeks!
The challenge after that—-turning it into a 2-person, tour-able piece for schools.
Filed under: Uncategorized — Cindy Marie Jenkins @ 12:59 pm
I always get a variety of responses when people find out about this project. They range from “Are you Russian?” to “What an uplifting topic” to “Why Chernobyl?”
Why Chernobyl? Why is help needed?
Through all of my initial research, one sentence kept prevailing: We simply do not know how radiation exposure affects a region over twenty, thirty, one hundred years. We simply have never had an accident of this magnitude to study.
Well, now we approach the 23rd year after the accident, and the children of Belarus are suffering. If the people are lucky enough to become pregnant at all, or to carry a pregnancy to term, the likelihood of those children (now 3rd generation after the accident) will lead healthy lives, or even lives outside of a hospital.
That is why we must help Chernobyl.
Take a look through the following links. If you are an Artist in any genre, a Patron of the Arts, an Educator or Community Leader, there ARE ways to help without sending money. Email cindy@voicesfromchornobyl.com and ask how.
Filed under: Uncategorized — Cindy Marie Jenkins @ 11:24 am
We are seeking assistance in the following areas, in order to prepare for the 2009 First Annual Anniversary Reading. People around the country and the world expressed interest in hosting a reading or production, and your time commitment would be determined by you! If you have other ways to help or more ideas, please contact cindy@voicesfromchornobyl.com
1. Getting the word out to potential THEATERS about VFC Anniversary Readings
2. Getting the word out to CHARITIES about VFC Anniversary Readings
3. Getting the word out to CHARITIES & THEATERS outside the US about VFC Anniversary Readings
4. Getting the word out to potential COMMUNITY CENTERS about VFC Anniversary Readings
5. Compiling a Study Packet for School Performances
6. Compiling a Pitch Packet for School Performances
7. Coordinating a Kick-off Anniversary Reading to perform in Los Angeles, this April 2009
8. Photocopying Assistance for Scripts to be mailed to interested charities/groups (both monetarily or compilation)
9. Mailing Assistance (both monetarily or compilation)
10. Planning for a fundraiser to fund our own VFC presentations
11. Compilation and Maintenance of Mailing List
12. Compilation and Organization of Costume & Prop Stock
13. Storage Space for Costume & Prop Stock
14. Anniversary Readings International Coordinator
15. Publicity & Marketing, specifically Press Releases
16. Company Manager: Organize 20+ actors who are part of the Chornobyl Troupe for rehearsals and performances
COMING SOON: Ana Callan, who plays Young Katya in the Demo, talks about her experience in learning about Chornobyl and how it’s affected her life.
From the UMass Amherst Spring 2008 Magazine for Alumni & Friends
“I’ve played an 80-year-old, the romantic lead, the best friend, the good guy, the villain . . . I can do all that, but in film it’s about looks first, then acting.”
Aaron Lyons ’99 Actor Aaron Lyons has been an office temp, a landscaper, and a cook; he has worked as a massage therapist, cared for children, and tended elephants. Elephants? “I was raised in the circus,” he admits. “Ringling Brothers. Both my parents worked there.”
Lyons has also directed plays and led acting workshops. His record as a working actor is impressive—parts in some 76 plays since 1989—but he estimates, “Sixty percent of the work I do is to make ends meet, mostly backstage gigs.”
There’s a bright side to that work, aside from the paychecks. “If a character works at a coffee shop or on a horse ranch, I can say, ‘Okay, I’ve done that, I know how that works.’ It’s one less thing I need to research,” says Lyons. “The foundation of any character I portray, though, comes from my need to know why people do what they do. Exploring the reasons is what I love most.”
For Lyons, an acting career was never a question. “It was the first thing I did that didn’t bore me. It’s something that you can constantly be improving on. When I worked in an office?”—his voice and an eyebrow go up—“there was one way to do things. But acting … there are hundreds of ways.”
Last fall, in the theater piece Voices from Chornobyl, Lyons played Arkady Fillin, a survivor of the nuclear plant explosion and meltdown in the Ukraine 21 years ago. As Fillin, Lyons described the aftermath: “We were handed shovels. We buried houses, wells, trees. We buried earth. We buried the forest.”
“The stakes were immediately high,” Lyons says of the part, “partly because of the subject matter, but also because it’s a biographical role. And there’s the question of how to respect the seriousness but also the storytelling aspect of the piece.”
But before you can play the part, you have to get the part. Lyons knows the drill. “You have to be businesslike about it, go to auditions all the time. And you can’t let rejection get to you.”
For the past year and a half, he’s been going after film work in Los Angeles, where he lives. Moving from the stage to the screen requires an agent, a manager, and a different mindset.
“Onstage I’ve played an 80-year-old, the romantic lead, the best friend, the good guy, the villain… I can do all that, but in film it’s about looks first, then acting,” Lyons explains. “If they want someone who’s a foot taller and has blue eyes, I won’t get the part, no matter what my experience is.”
The hazel-eyed actor figures his best shot at film or TV work is bad-guy roles. “If I relax my face,” he says, letting his mouth sag and pulling his eyebrows down, “I look angry.” (He does.) “When I do that, people look at me and say, ‘Aaron’s pissed,’ even if I’m not; I’m just thinking.”
To help his chances, Lyons is doing his homework, talking to directors and going on sets. One example: “I had a bit part in West Wing. After I was done, I asked if I could hang around and watch.”
Says Lyons, “Film is an intimate medium. You’re much more exposed. With theater you’re more aware of your surroundings, your shoelace being untied, the lighting, can you be heard? If you screw up onstage, you have to fix it right there. In film, it’s a lot about you and your scene partner. When you’re making a film, they tell you, ‘Don’t be so big.’ It’s more focused work.”
Last fall, a friend’s wedding brought him back to the East Coast, and he came to campus to talk to theater students. Before the workshop he was asked, What will you say to these aspiring actors?
“You’re screwed!” he said with a big laugh. “Get out now! Learn computers; we’re all going to be replaced by cartoons!” When the time came, though, he showed how much he believes in his vocation, staying an extra hour or so to answer questions. Even if acting doesn’t always put food on the table, he says, “No other job can feed me like acting does.”
Getting the word out and organizing readings in the U.S. Readings are free in April but are able to be free anytime so long as it serves a charitable or educational purpose
Compiling a Study Packet for School Performances
Compiling a Pitch Packet for School Performances
Coordinating a Kick-off Anniversary Reading for our cast (whoever is available) to perform on the Anniversary this year (I’ll be sending out more info on that soon)
A list of Chernobyl Charities in the U.S.
List of Chernobyl Charities outside the U.S. & U.K.
Photocopying Assistance for Scripts to be mailed to interested charities/groups (both monetarily or compilation)
Mailing Assistance (both monetarily or compilation)
Planning for a fundraiser this summer, to fund our own VFC presentations
Compilation and Maintenance of Mailing List
Compilation and Organization of Costume & Prop Stock
It is hard to condense all of the events from this past weekend into one email, but here are the highlights.
Over 100 delegates from Chernobyl Charities in the UK and Ireland saw our Demo Film and heard the idea for the Anniversary Readings.
The Workshop for “Commemorating the Anniversary,” which I facilitated, had many more attendees than had signed up, after they had seen the Film.
All of the charities involved are excited and interested in utilizing the play for the Charity’s benefits.
2009 will be the true beginning, but many were encouraged to read the play aloud at their Board Meetings, and get started sooner.
A woman formerly on the Examination (Education Board) Board is looking to put a Special Adaptation for Primary Grades into the Examination Curriculum, either for Health, Science or History classes, or all
The UK Anniversary Readings will be integrated into every Charity’s “Remember Chernobyl” festivities, and after my presentation, a Charity Delegate pledged the first 5,000 pounds towards a full-time National Coordinator for such readings.
By the 25th Anniversary, these readings should be worldwide and create an event that will make Chernobyl more than just a footnote on the news.
The DVD will be used as a vehicle to interest more families in hosting “Holidays” for children who are ill due to the effects of radiation.
And I’m extremely open to other people’s ideas and suggestions.
