Thursday January
18th
Pip telephones from Heathrow just before boarding the
flight. Last minute refeshments. Everyone looking forward to
their visit. Party travelling expect to arrive in Tehran at 2am
local time. (JWB)
Friday January 19th
'Salam' from the office of the famous crocodille
swimming hero 'Ali Karabalaei!! Dr Spencer the Minister of
Information and the director of 'Tranga Yes' a dance drama
based around traditional folk tales from Sierra Leone'. We all
arrived safely at 2am stepping swiftly through customs with the
hero and his faithful team working for the Fadjr Theatre
Festival. We are surrounded by snowcapped mountains and
unusally quiet traffic in Tehran. We visited the workshop
performance space - the newly converted Art House formerly a
military building. We have already been enjoying the Iranian
hospitality, even though we mistook Yoghurt for cream at
breakfast this morning. The new phrase/word of the day is
'Darbast' meaning at your service - a vital word for travelling
by taxi ensuring that you don't pick other people up on the
way. In the next 2 days theatre companies from all around the
world will be arriving in Tehran and the 19th Fadjr Festival
will begin!!!
'Traffic/driving in Tehran is hectic - its do what you want policy... went to Rocky's grandmas today - lovely and have a brilliant view of the snowcapped mountains - gorgeous & massive - biggest ones I think I've seen (since perhaps the Pyranees) Going for a walk up there tomorrow (last day before workshops start.) The arts centre is wonderful & Pete & I felt like Prince Charles - painters hiding the brushes behind their backs as we walked around.... loads of nice sculptures & instruments in cases - Nay santur donbek etc.' from Pip.
'All is surprisingly and unusually calm on the streets of Tehran, as its Friday and tommorow is commemoration of an Islamic Martyr (rest day), press interview am, up to mountains above Tehran to get a perspective and group vibe even more fluid and inspiring than it is. It promises to be hilarious, 4 hour micro-day with Pip sorted for phat 4 speaker PA, 16 track desk. Rehearsal space is freshly painted and BEAUTIFUL. Iranian brotherhood is exceedingly hospitable. Got the first lamb kebab in, gotta sleep, very tired', from Pete.
Sunday January 21st
'Today began early (7am get up) 9am at the Arts
Centre. Beautiful space and a lot of creative energy from the
diverse participants. A general introduction revealed the
breadth of skill & enthusiasm. We are working with a mixed
group of approximately 30 people, mainly students studying
throughout Iran. We explored aspects of group awareness,
improvisation, rhythm and voice. The day ended with a group
improvisation of 24 hours in Tehran.(in 5 minutes)!! This
showed us Tehran through their eyes and illustrated the extent
of their skills. They are amazingly receptive and excited about
exploring theatre, music & design skills in more depth. We
quickly realised it's going to be a challenging 2 weeks keeping
up with the energy and the desire to learn & create. Roll
on tomorrow', from
Pip.
Monday January 22nd
Today
there were workshops from 8: 30 until 4.00. Some problems with
ProTools LE recording from the DAT machine, the computer plays
the audio through the PC speakers but the program doesn't
record the audio via the line in. The mic input was distorted.
(JWB)
'Tonight in the bazaar shopping for pearls and saffron, coral and apricots, we even found an agate ode to Fatimah. Noises, smells and people, beetroot and beans, Tehran is full of exotic flavours', from Skye.
Wednesday January
24th
'Today it is snowing and the workshops are
developing. We explore the movement of materials and capoeira.
The students are getting more and more creative. Don Quixote
reaches Tehran. Pete and Pippa (otherwise known as salt and
...) record the sounds of falling snow. Goodnight',from Skye.
Thurday January
25th
'Last night - we went out to see a show (the music
was refreshing - repeated minimalist riffs from a quartet) then
went to Rocky's cousins for tea & something to eat - she
has a lovely pad with wooden homemade furniture & bamboo
sculptures. After the Festival, we will be going to Esfahan for
a break from our the work. Nigel & Conrad are here now
which is great. They bring a different energy to the
group.' from
Pip.
Friday January
26th
'We've had a day off today. We went to visit the
Shah's Palace - beautiful and decadent - the use of mirror
mosaics is amazing. It is still snowing quite heavily in Tehran
at the moment (I believe it is the most snow in a long time),
the city has a beautiful calmness to it. Feeling pretty
shattered and was in great need of a chill out day - tonight we
will see another show, this time from Palestine. And an early
night to prepare for the week of workshops ahead. This week the
actors, designers and sound designers will come together to
form three companies then start collaborating together using
the skills that they have learnt in the past week. They will
perform their pieces on 2nd February at 2pm at the Tatre Shah
Theatre. I've had a dodgy tummy but it is getting better, I
hope. Not finding much to eat apart from fish and rice but I am
supplementing my diet with lots of beautiful nuts, dried fruit
& fruit,' from
Pip.
'Hiya Juan. Here's some first impressions. Snow on the runway, coming down off a 6 hour flight, best airline food since I can remember although the drinks service lacked a certain something...well ...alcohol. Anyways 24 hours in and I'm not convulsing with fits of delirium tremens. In fact quite the opposite, a bellyfull of fish and rice,(we're apparently not far south of the Caspian Sea) down at Hamids mate's restaurant and I'm pretty content. Loads of arty people spinning around the hotel getting serious about dialectic narrative of contemporary theatre, but the others here are taking a day out to check out the Shah's Winter Palace. This place consists of a garden that seems to be under construction (and 4 inches of snow) which houses a variety ravens, swans and parrots. They're enclosed by a square of huge mirrored chambers (these Shah geezers were oh so narcissistic you know). Some lovely tiles too and a few suits of armour mixed in with the odd gory fresco of past great battles. All in all a pretty cool (b! rrr) place with a fair bit of kultchah spinning around about it. Watch this space for some tasty recipes and and an A to Z on enjoying yersel' without getting plastered......' from Conrad.
'I'm back on all healthy cylinders after suffering from dodgy hotel salad and 5 o'clock Tehran pollution, but nothing a quick visit to the 24hr friendly pharmacist and some saffron/sugar caj couldn't cure! Our much needed day off led us to explore the Gordestan Palace. Parrots fly around the majestic grounds, magnificent marble archways reveal sacred spaces of the past Persia, intricate mosaics of gold and mother-of- pearl, kaleidoscope ceilings of reflective silver transform the already beautiful use of natural light in the palace buildings. All the while snow falls relentlessly on Tehran, from Pete.
4 Snowprints
Saturday January
27th
'We
were joined today by Professor Nigel Osbourne and video-artist
Conrad Molleson. Today started with an ever physically
awakening and mind stretching warm up, led by, Skye which
started this second week on a great note. 4 hours of inspiring
work with Nigel followed much to the delight of the Iranian
participants and ourselves. Invigorating voice work through the
"monkey chant"; subtle voice work - harmony and overtones; work
on group trust through space and sound; talks and practical
demonstrations on areas such as - the role of pulse in human
development and creating new pieces of theatre were all
explored in depth. A visit by the Artistic Directors and
Producers of Visiting Arts, The Centre for
Performance Research and The Edinburgh Festival from
the UK also engaged in some of Nigel's workshop and were
presented with "work in progress" by the Iranian participants,
all captured by the creative eye of Conrad. Pip and I were
delighted that the 4 speaker PA and 16 track desk is all
happily connected to the computer today. This enables the Sound
group to take their samples of field recordings and group
improvisations to a new level, by being projected into the
theatre space. Really exciting as we are able to work with
textures and sound environments in more depth. The participants
were split into 3 separate theatre companies, comprising a
balanced mix from the 1) Physical Theatre, 2) Set Design and 3)
Sound Design workshop groups. The next 5 days will see the
group go through the process of creating new work based around
the new skills they have acquired. The 3 "new companies" will
follow an Aboriginal storyline, a Persian folk story and
passages from Macbeth as a starting point and narrative
substance for the process this week and final performance at
the grand City Hall next friday; the last day of the Festival.
A hugely inspiring day for all involved. Really looking forward
to travelling into the depths of Iran to the old capital and
surrounds of Esfahan next weekend...', from Pete.
'Hiya John, 2nd day the jetlag kicked in, spun out by the buzz of budding performers busying away, and of course ....the traffic, completely marvellous and chaotic. A joke from Nigel's sprog,"....what do you call scrap metal on toast? ....Traffic Jam..." Particularly pertinent here, though Lord/Mohammed help 'em if you judge a society by their driving. And now the snow is melting, it seems that spring is on the wing, at least in south Tehran. There's a difference of 6 degrees between north and south. A bit theatred out to be honest, though there's some pretty good stuff going down here. Not the most light hearted I might add. Last night for instance, we saw an Iranian version of Medea which culminated in the lead bloke dancing barefoot on barbed wire whilst she chewed it up, amist a cast of women dressed as warrior ants working road drills projected over a backdrop of burning rivers of lava. All this to the sweet sounds of...wait for it....Pink Floyd. Ach well, almost there guys. Light hearted stuff I'm sure you'll agree. However that was mere kidsplay compared to today...but more of that later. Meantime a queue of Egyptians wishing to use the email so I better say ghoda hafez for now, from Conradski.
Tuesday January
30th
'Getting into this thing now. Swinging a camera
around ain't so bad and it's easier to carry than a double
bass. Anyway I guess I'll be judged upon the footage that comes
out of this wee escapade. Guess I'm a we bit relaxed about it
all, as I don't need to talk / translate if I don't feel like
it. Not that that shuts me up for long. Anyway today the
Cultural Minister for the Iranian government came today, and
gave a speech at the centre and popped up to speak with Nigel
for a bit. Then Sky, the satellite channel, did interviews with
almost everyone. Interrupted only when the cameraman's phone
kept going off with his wife phoning to tell him to hurry up
and get his tea. Meanwhile, high level meeting with top brass
hit squad in hotel foyer. These pictures are drawn from a
couple of the shows. Godahafes.' from Conradski.
Wednesday January
31st
'The workshops in the three companies are in full swing. Lots of work to get ready for the performance on Friday 2nd February. We are still using the time for structured learning of the different disciplines, keeping a focus on the purpose of the workshops.
We escaped into the mountains for some air & had a big walk up to and past sunset. We descended in the dark and were invited to share a fire with 2 Afganistan refugees who sell beautiful food (nuts dates etc) on the mountain path. One of the old men had the most beautiful and expressive face and was proud to tell his shepherd friend that he had some new friends who were like himself, outsiders. When down the mountain we went to the most fantastic Persian restaurant, all 9 of us sat on a huge red carpet and ate the most beautiful and tasty food I have had since I've been here - but to top it all there were some fantastic musicians playing traditional Iranian music whilst we were eating.........a fantastic well-needed chill out. The musical experience really was something else....... Daf, Nay, Santur and a fabulous singer.......this is the life - I couldn't help smiling all evening...' from Pip.
'Salaam John. The workshop process has been amazingly inspiring and a good open space for exchange as well as a hell of a lot of drawing. The 6 students are all studying at Teheran University or at the Institute for Art and Theatre and due to the rigid heirachies have only ever done design 'projects' - never realised their own work. So there is an amazing energy and desire to participate actively in the theatre making process and to actually realise their own work. The first weeks workshops were based on techniques aimed at freeing up their creativity and exploring creation of theatre from a visual staring point- lots of physical and sound exercices which went into drawing and design and then back to performance. The designers have had a very active role in the creation of the final pieces which will be shown on Friday. In the Farsi traditional tale, about a rich man who had forgotten how to laugh, much of the 'action' that is now performed came from the initial drawings of Kati and Sala.... and the aboriginal tale has a wonderful floor landscape of salt and coloured pigment (used with lime to colour houses...) which allows us actually see songlines being created during the show.....
So. All in all very exciting and inspiring. A lot of energy and a huge desire to talk and hear about what is going on in the world. Many of the students know about the work of people like Svoboda, Kantor, Le Page, Wilson... but have no access to books and so have never seen any of the work. I brought a few reference books which have been passed around many times, but this is a big incentive to return to continue this work and to start other exchange possibilities between these artists and others in other places.....
My big news today was getting a chador, the students all roared with laughter and surprisingly many came up and thanked me for wearing it. Feels a bit wierd actually ......' from Miriam.
'Today work went well & the end is nigh and perfectly in sight........ almost fished all the sound clips for the performance - just final tweaking tomorrow. Today we recorded lots of belly aching laughter for the Persian story - was a real giggle & when we were editing it everyone couldn't stop laughing. Someone commented that it was lovely to laugh so much as it doesn't happen very often.... from Pip.
Thursday February
1st
'Last night in the Ferdossi Hotel with chicken and red berries. It's been a long day beginning with a visit to get visa extensions...8am say no more. Tomorrow we have our presentation in the theatre hall and it's going to be good. The students have put in great work and we've had fun...Macbeth comedy set in Iranian village, an aboriginal-inspired creation myth, and a Persian folk story, as well as a group harmonic movement piece... Have begun the discovery of Persian literature with Hafaz and Kermani - 'THE PALM'. Went shoppin for a carpet and came home with 3!...the fellow in the Bazaar let's me 'walk on it' tonight and decide in the morning. We love it here and will be sad to go, already talking about the next visit... off to Esfahan tomorrow night...yeahhh,' from Skye.
