Well now, isn’t that ironic… another incredible book found me in a small little charity bookshop in Durban. I was just browsing, not particularly looking for anything and definitely not hoping to find a rich source of inspiration to guide the writing of this play.
Yes, I am still writing… No, the play is not finished, yet… Yes, I am very aware of the fact that Grahamstown is in 128 days and that rehearsals will start in 48 days!!!
I perform under pressure! I perform under pressure! I perform under pressure! (I constantly remind myself...)
Back to this incredible book that found me… The Plays of Miracle and Wonder by Brett Bailey, published in 2003, about groundbreaking work he did in the previous 7 years.
I could just copy and paste the whole book right here… I could dedicate this blogg to the “miracle and wonder” of Brett’s work, but alas, I have my own journey and even with the deadlines drawing close, it is not the destination that is ultimately important here.
“During the creation process I rarely know what a play is about. The process of making it takes everybody involved on an intense journey: we are not social scientists who watch things unfold with detached interest; we are artists who have to dive right in and head for the whirlpools. We push deeper and deeper into the material and something forms itself out of our work; something is revealed; sometimes amorphous and shifting and awkward. Sometimes the difficulty of the subject matter and the struggle of our process are manifest in the knots and splinters of the product.” Pg 153
Brett , in my opinion, was always way ahead of his time. Which is why I follow in his footsteps, hoping to learn from him, more than 10 years after he did the work that I could only dream of one day doing.
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