(After a course in which living in the moment is the aim and a pause is the means to achieve it)
Pick a piece of perfect Pinter
By peeping into a pause:
Every perfect, pregnant moment
Plops plumply into place -
Propping up the silence
With pendulous space
And meaning and measure
Beyond all acts and deeds.
Dipping into the silence
Inspires, unveils, reveals
Depth, perception, promise,
Understanding of the NOW -
The ultimate in living
In the moment is, like, WOW!
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Two websites of interest
Website for viewing extracts from play and interview with author:
http://fest.ru.ac.za/mmslides.cfm?mmid=80&slideNum=1
Original interview on this site: http://www.litnet.co.za/teater/mcgrane_van_eeden.asp
http://fest.ru.ac.za/mmslides.cfm?mmid=80&slideNum=1
Original interview on this site: http://www.litnet.co.za/teater/mcgrane_van_eeden.asp
Comment on Litnet interview by Brent Quinn - film maker
Hi I commend Michelle McGrane on her Janet van Eeden interview. It is anon-intrusive lens into Janet's process and a fascinating glimpse into hergift with story. The interview allows the writer¹s vision andself-reflection to bubble forth. Affording Janet the space and comfort toexpress her method and what inspires her was simply a pleasure to read. Yes,a far cry from the grandstanding that many movie critics indulge in whenfiring inane questions while sloughing toward the limelight. I recently attended a movie indaba with mostly top movie critics on a paneltasked with comparing Zulu Love Letter and Mr. Drum. Predictably neitherfilm got much of a mention. Wisely no directors or funders pitched. Thewhole session became a display of which critic wore their ubuntu mostsublimely on their sleeve. A case of watching apologist ham in full flutter.The audience of course could all make much better films, correct 350 yearsof history and knew exactly how to make SA film travel. But that¹sJo¹burgSand hey, in case you wondering, I¹m not defending either film. But,here's the rub, who on the panel or in the audience, many of whom do getfunding, have written 9 screenplays or taken over a year out to research asingle story? Janet's work needs to be seen on local screens.
Brent QuinnFilmmaker/typist
Original interview on this site: http://www.litnet.co.za/teater/mcgrane_van_eeden.asp
Brent QuinnFilmmaker/typist
Original interview on this site: http://www.litnet.co.za/teater/mcgrane_van_eeden.asp
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Ixopo Poems
Ixopo Haiku.
Bees dive-bombing in
trees. Sun brittling thoughts.
Betrayal blossoms.
A Tulip Leaf's Lament.
Colour of chakras, violet mauve
tulip leaf on grass, lies smouldering.
Cold fleshiness of the flower's mound
gives way to silken flaccidness of
the bruised skirt; promise of purple heights
Lost. Browned off with life.
Bees dive-bombing in
trees. Sun brittling thoughts.
Betrayal blossoms.
A Tulip Leaf's Lament.
Colour of chakras, violet mauve
tulip leaf on grass, lies smouldering.
Cold fleshiness of the flower's mound
gives way to silken flaccidness of
the bruised skirt; promise of purple heights
Lost. Browned off with life.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
The New Feminism?
“It’s Neo Feminism,” said Cate Hornby as we wandered around the Village Green in Grahamstown selling our play, The Savage Sisters. We had been talking about how many strong young women were coming to see our play. There were also the more expected older women and men in the audiences but the young women were the definite majority. What surprised me was how vocal they were in their applause and praise of the message of the play. I also envied them their incredible sense of their own abilities and strength and wished I had been more like them twenty years ago. Cate and I agreed that the young women today are no longer crippled by needing to break new ground. They are taking ownership of their power to be whoever they want to be. In spite of the odds against them.
This was borne out for me by the plethora of plays about women by women which were at the festival this year. Although these plays didn’t always attract the attention of the mainstream critics, there were at least ten plays which dealt with women’s issues. At one extreme there was comic lightheartedness such as the play called Kiss Kiss in which two young and very pretty performers were marketing themselves unashamedly as Barbie dolls. On our first night at the festival they were looking for help on how to pitch their show. I suggested they say it was a parody of the fashion industry and a satirical comment about models. They were apparently very grateful for this advice as days later I was amazed to see them turn up at our show. Ours was a rather more hard-hitting piece about the difficulties facing women writers in the 18th century and how things have changed (or not) in the present. They came back stage to say how much they were moved by the show. Duty bound, my cast and I immediately went to see their show. It was a carefully choreographed comic piece about two models obsessed with their weight and looks. And it made a biting comment about the way friendship often goes out of the window with women when a man comes into their lives. Even if he is a dummy, as he was literally in this case. I thought the piece very honest and funny even as it made a very real point about the competition women sometimes engage in when men are around. We were all reduced to tears of laughter. But the issue was serious.
The next play we saw was the intriguingly named A Woman’s Bum is Like the Moon. This piece drew the audiences because of a provocative poster which showed a woman’s naked bottom (which was constantly being pinched as the posters disappeared regularly). The play dealt with the many aspects of most women’s lives: the wife, the mother, the kugel, and the overlooked young spirit who wants to have fun like the men and refuses to grow old. The most telling point of this play for me was the end where the actress stood in front of the audience in her underwear telling us about herself as a young woman today. As a woman she isn’t able to compete with the perfect model types, she doesn’t want to end up a slave to domesticity, and yet all she wants is the freedom to explore what she really wants to do with her life without any constraints imposed on her because of her sex. It was a brave and honest piece, and though, not flawless, it was laudable. My cast just loved it and gave the actress, Samantha Gray, a standing ovation.
The other plays about women dealt with real and contemporary issues. Behind the Veil was a look at the world from the perspective of a woman who wants more than her Muslim husband allows her. 37 Degrees of Fear was a piece of physical theatre which looked at the murder of a Grahamstown woman, Yvonne Wellman, and explored the way women are often unable to feel safe in the very communities in which they live. And then there was the UKZN’s own avante guarde production of BlueBeard directed by Tammy Hammerslag. Though it had men sometimes playing the roles of women who were victims of physical abuse, it explored the whole issue of domestic violence in a most creative and illuminating way. Then there was Cherry Under My Foot, a two hander by women exploring the materialistic life of a copywriter in the city, who has a vocal subconscious who undermines her superficiality. And even the protected male turf of Herman Charles Bosman was plundered by two women. Bosman performed by women, the purists might cry? They did the job admirably, I thought, and much better than any old ex-Patricks I have known, if you ask me. There wasn’t much of a feminist message in this play though, other than saying that women can do anything men can do. Even play Oom Schalk Lourens!
There were even more plays about women, but I couldn’t see them all. And even though audiences continued to flock to the many plays in which one man, or two men or even three ran about in their underpants (and sometimes a bit more) and spoke in Afrikaans accents and told silly jokes and danced with chickens, in the quiet corners of the festival women’s voices were being heard.
And that brought me back to my conversation with Cate on the Village Green. What is this Neo Feminism exactly? “Women are no longer attacking men, in any way,’ said Cate, “but they are urging women to take their future into their own hands. This is the same message Mary Wollstonecraft has in our play. She did not hate men. She just thought that women should just take more responsibility to do more with their lives.”
So this made me think a little more. What exactly was the message in my play in the light of this Neo Feminism? Even though the three authors in The Savage Sisters have a heated debate about their work, and there is a real competitive edge throughout, they form an understanding in the end where compassion for each other’s difficulties in making their voices heard is the tie that binds them together. So perhaps that is the message to take out of the festival. Competition is inevitable between women (and men for that matter). But women’s voices will be heard even more strongly when the competitiveness becomes secondary to compassion.
This was borne out for me by the plethora of plays about women by women which were at the festival this year. Although these plays didn’t always attract the attention of the mainstream critics, there were at least ten plays which dealt with women’s issues. At one extreme there was comic lightheartedness such as the play called Kiss Kiss in which two young and very pretty performers were marketing themselves unashamedly as Barbie dolls. On our first night at the festival they were looking for help on how to pitch their show. I suggested they say it was a parody of the fashion industry and a satirical comment about models. They were apparently very grateful for this advice as days later I was amazed to see them turn up at our show. Ours was a rather more hard-hitting piece about the difficulties facing women writers in the 18th century and how things have changed (or not) in the present. They came back stage to say how much they were moved by the show. Duty bound, my cast and I immediately went to see their show. It was a carefully choreographed comic piece about two models obsessed with their weight and looks. And it made a biting comment about the way friendship often goes out of the window with women when a man comes into their lives. Even if he is a dummy, as he was literally in this case. I thought the piece very honest and funny even as it made a very real point about the competition women sometimes engage in when men are around. We were all reduced to tears of laughter. But the issue was serious.
The next play we saw was the intriguingly named A Woman’s Bum is Like the Moon. This piece drew the audiences because of a provocative poster which showed a woman’s naked bottom (which was constantly being pinched as the posters disappeared regularly). The play dealt with the many aspects of most women’s lives: the wife, the mother, the kugel, and the overlooked young spirit who wants to have fun like the men and refuses to grow old. The most telling point of this play for me was the end where the actress stood in front of the audience in her underwear telling us about herself as a young woman today. As a woman she isn’t able to compete with the perfect model types, she doesn’t want to end up a slave to domesticity, and yet all she wants is the freedom to explore what she really wants to do with her life without any constraints imposed on her because of her sex. It was a brave and honest piece, and though, not flawless, it was laudable. My cast just loved it and gave the actress, Samantha Gray, a standing ovation.
The other plays about women dealt with real and contemporary issues. Behind the Veil was a look at the world from the perspective of a woman who wants more than her Muslim husband allows her. 37 Degrees of Fear was a piece of physical theatre which looked at the murder of a Grahamstown woman, Yvonne Wellman, and explored the way women are often unable to feel safe in the very communities in which they live. And then there was the UKZN’s own avante guarde production of BlueBeard directed by Tammy Hammerslag. Though it had men sometimes playing the roles of women who were victims of physical abuse, it explored the whole issue of domestic violence in a most creative and illuminating way. Then there was Cherry Under My Foot, a two hander by women exploring the materialistic life of a copywriter in the city, who has a vocal subconscious who undermines her superficiality. And even the protected male turf of Herman Charles Bosman was plundered by two women. Bosman performed by women, the purists might cry? They did the job admirably, I thought, and much better than any old ex-Patricks I have known, if you ask me. There wasn’t much of a feminist message in this play though, other than saying that women can do anything men can do. Even play Oom Schalk Lourens!
There were even more plays about women, but I couldn’t see them all. And even though audiences continued to flock to the many plays in which one man, or two men or even three ran about in their underpants (and sometimes a bit more) and spoke in Afrikaans accents and told silly jokes and danced with chickens, in the quiet corners of the festival women’s voices were being heard.
And that brought me back to my conversation with Cate on the Village Green. What is this Neo Feminism exactly? “Women are no longer attacking men, in any way,’ said Cate, “but they are urging women to take their future into their own hands. This is the same message Mary Wollstonecraft has in our play. She did not hate men. She just thought that women should just take more responsibility to do more with their lives.”
So this made me think a little more. What exactly was the message in my play in the light of this Neo Feminism? Even though the three authors in The Savage Sisters have a heated debate about their work, and there is a real competitive edge throughout, they form an understanding in the end where compassion for each other’s difficulties in making their voices heard is the tie that binds them together. So perhaps that is the message to take out of the festival. Competition is inevitable between women (and men for that matter). But women’s voices will be heard even more strongly when the competitiveness becomes secondary to compassion.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
PRESS RELEASE. - THE SAVAGE SISTERS
Van Eeden Harrison Productions
Three young actors are rehearsing a play based on the lives of three seminal women authors - Jane Austen, Fanny Burney and Mary Wollstonecroft. While they try to portray aspects of the authors' lives, they find themselves exploring aspects of their own lives, and what it means to be a woman in 2005.
Written and directed by Janet van Eeden, this third in her Savage Trilogy (the first two were A Savage from the Colonies about the life of Katherine Mansfield, and Oviri, The Savage Civilian, about the life of Paul Gauguin) explores the lives of the three authors through the eyes of the students who are putting on a play about the authors. As it turns out, their director has to miss the first rehearsal because her child is sick. The actors have to make a start on their own, much to the swottish Genevieve’s disgust. She can’t believe that people could be so unprofessional. She is horrified to hear that Vicky hasn’t even read the play, and takes on the role of director herself as she tries to put some semblance of order into the rehearsal process. Marla, the third young actor, at least has done her homework and is up to speed with the characters in the play. After much annoyance, Genevieve manages to make a start, but even her best laid plans are ruined when the authors decide to have their say too. The denouement brings us back to the present where we discover the real reason behind Genevieve’s unhappy disposition.
The play aims to inform the audience about the lives of the authors (even those who have never heard of them) and casts a reflecting light on the lives of women in society today. Genevieve is played by Cate Hornby, Vicky by Louise Buchler, and Marla by Avi Maistry.
Funded by The National Arts Council, SA.
Language/s: English (mild profanity) Age recommendation: PG
Duration: 60mins Company status: Semi-pro Premiere
Previous Festival appearances: 2 years
Ticket prices: Full: R 38 Members: R 35 Students: R 32
B2 Arena: Thu 30 20:00; Fri 1 12:00; Sat 2 17:00; Sun 3 19:00; Mon 4 16:00; Tue 5 20:30; Wed 6 18:00; Thu 7 12:00; Fri 8 16:00; Sat 9 17:00
Half price on 30 June
Three young actors are rehearsing a play based on the lives of three seminal women authors - Jane Austen, Fanny Burney and Mary Wollstonecroft. While they try to portray aspects of the authors' lives, they find themselves exploring aspects of their own lives, and what it means to be a woman in 2005.
Written and directed by Janet van Eeden, this third in her Savage Trilogy (the first two were A Savage from the Colonies about the life of Katherine Mansfield, and Oviri, The Savage Civilian, about the life of Paul Gauguin) explores the lives of the three authors through the eyes of the students who are putting on a play about the authors. As it turns out, their director has to miss the first rehearsal because her child is sick. The actors have to make a start on their own, much to the swottish Genevieve’s disgust. She can’t believe that people could be so unprofessional. She is horrified to hear that Vicky hasn’t even read the play, and takes on the role of director herself as she tries to put some semblance of order into the rehearsal process. Marla, the third young actor, at least has done her homework and is up to speed with the characters in the play. After much annoyance, Genevieve manages to make a start, but even her best laid plans are ruined when the authors decide to have their say too. The denouement brings us back to the present where we discover the real reason behind Genevieve’s unhappy disposition.
The play aims to inform the audience about the lives of the authors (even those who have never heard of them) and casts a reflecting light on the lives of women in society today. Genevieve is played by Cate Hornby, Vicky by Louise Buchler, and Marla by Avi Maistry.
Funded by The National Arts Council, SA.
Language/s: English (mild profanity) Age recommendation: PG
Duration: 60mins Company status: Semi-pro Premiere
Previous Festival appearances: 2 years
Ticket prices: Full: R 38 Members: R 35 Students: R 32
B2 Arena: Thu 30 20:00; Fri 1 12:00; Sat 2 17:00; Sun 3 19:00; Mon 4 16:00; Tue 5 20:30; Wed 6 18:00; Thu 7 12:00; Fri 8 16:00; Sat 9 17:00
Half price on 30 June
Thursday, June 02, 2005
After the Fall.
So there I was, walking in nature as I have been advised to do by so many people, and it’s something I really love anyway, watching the bees pollinate the bright yellow flowers, sensing the butterflies’ wings flutter by, and feeling - dare I say it? - almost enlightened? And I bent down to pick up a butterfly's wing on my path, admiring its ephemeral beauty as I walked down the steepest path of the Botanical Gardens as I have done so many times before. I just begin a pleasant day dream when suddenly my left leg is stretched out underneath me at a most painful angle, and I can't feel a thing in it, and I have a sinking knowledge that not being able to move it means I am in big trouble. And I’ve been walking on my own of course if you don't count my dear dog Cassie who is sorely in need of lessons from Lassie. And now I am badly hurt. So badly hurt that it takes all the girding up of my loins - which are usually pretty well girded anyway - just to get back up onto my feet again. And it takes even further girding to hobble from foot to foot down the path which, for the first time ever, seems interminable. The pain makes me cry in anger a number of times, and I pass a number of men scraping leaves together in a self absorbed fashion, and I try to hide behind the dark glasses so that they can't see how I am crying. Of course, they think my hobble, hobble, shout at the dog to stop pulling at the lead (which makes me land on my incredibly sore foot), is the way I usually walk through the gardens. And I can't help wondering why, whenever I feel on top of the world, this time literally, I fall flat on my... back! And I also can't help wondering if all those old wives tales about pride going before a fall and so on are really true and is someone trying to tell me something? But then I think of the Buddhists' way and I think I must not make any more of this than what it is. It is what it is. And I must just adjust and adapt. And even though I was supposed to start rehearsals today for my play which is going to Grahamstown I will just have to start a day later and be one of those directors who sits on a chair when she directs. And even if it takes a little longer to get the play to where I want it, I will still get it there. And after a day in which I spent some time in a wheelchair at Casualty as well as learning to walk with crutches to survive the next few weeks, I have renewed and infinite respect for people who are disabled. Everything is just that much harder when you can’t move properly and independence is a rare feeling. Perhaps, as a friend put it, this fall was from grace into humanity, to remember how hard it is for some people to get by.
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