Sparrow in the Room Collective

Expectant Waiting by Edith Tankus

2009-02-06T13:14:00.001-08:00

Expectant waiting. I was introduced to that term by Robert Morgan and I’ve been experiencing it fully for the last several months. After forming the Sparrow Collective it seemed everything happened all at once. I started working with Robert and we made all sorts of artistic plans for the upcoming year. Then I went to England to visit my fiance, got pregnant, returned home and shortly after he joined me in Toronto where, because of our work schedules, we had two weeks to prepare for our wedding. Things were obviously taking a different turn. He went back to England and I would join him in what I thought would be a short amount of time. In the interim Robert and Anahita went to Iran, Thailand and Nepal for Sparrow’s First Flight Project. And I stayed in Toronto contemplating my domestic life with baby and new husband. I’ve been mobile with my work for quite some time performing in Canada, England and the States. and in the span of a couple of months my life had changed drastically. During the last two months, I’ve been spending my time re-reading stories and fables of my childhood and was particularly drawn to the Grimm Brothers’ Fairy Tales. After some years of touring my own shows and working with the wonderful U.K. based theatre company Kneehigh, this is a welcome new chapter in my life. Family, home, motherhood. And during this expectant time, I can also dream into the next project. I want to dig into memories of my own childhood and pluck ancient archetypes from the ether around me. The fairy tale world of warm hearth-fires, storytelling, imagination, flights of fancy, wide-eyed innocence and childhood terror. I love Robert’s work and we have plans to workshop ideas together in the fall along with the inimitable Anahita. Can’t wait.

Reflections and an Important Birthday Approaches

2009-01-12T10:32:00.000-08:00

In retrospect and repose, we have found our experiences during the First Flight Project rich to almost overwhelming. We have collected together our thoughts and feelings in a press release and new blog entries. On our Facebook page you will find photographs of our time in Iran, Thailand and Nepal.

We also have exciting news about Sparrow’s Artistic co-Director, Edith Tankus who is embarking on some new adventures of her own. She flies mid-January to her new home in the English countryside where early this spring she and her husband Adrian will experience the dramatic wonders of childbirth. Sparrow wishes her joyful nesting.

Handshakes

2009-01-09T11:37:00.000-08:00

Canada and Iran making it official

Meet some of our new collective members from Iran

This photograph was taken in Isfahan confirming ‘the deal’ with members of Eedeh including Artistic Director, Ahmad Soleimani (to the right of Robert) and Mohammad Reza Koohestani (to Ahmad’s right.) Mohammad is the author of the company’s ‘One Soldier One Daughter’ the daring and masterful work that so impressed Robert at the 2007 festival in Delhi, India.

Thankfully, we have no idea what it is that we are agreeing to!

We say “thankfully” because we have granted ourselves the freedom to do whatever it is that emerges when we meet next. Our handshake is confirming our sincere mutual desire to work together in the future. Our current dream is to collaboratively create a play/performance piece with artists from other countries (including to date Nepal and Thailand) with the mandate that we address together the realities of our lives and our era with "honesty, compassion and humour".

Meet Moradokmai Theatre Troupe

Meet the Twins

It is an amazing and reassuring experience to encounter fraternity on the other side of the globe. That is what happened when Robert and Kru-Chang met. Since then, they have spoken about everything from collaborating new work, producing and performing ‘Waiting for Godot,’ to building a new dwelling in an international community of artists somewhere in the mountains of Northern Thailand. Moradokmai and Edeeh recently met in Delhi and are arranging invitations to perform in each others countries.

“World Wide Web” indeed!

Sparrow’s ‘happenstance’ encounter with Salil Kanika in a magical music shop in Kathmandu has helped deepen our trust of the mysterious, yet undeniable fact of human interconnectedness. We were mutually amazed to have met and Sparrow welcomes all that this vibrant young artist will bring to our global collaboration.

Morgan's Journey, first foreign performance in ultra-conservative city of Qom, Iran since the Islamic Revolution

2009-01-05T11:11:00.000-08:00

‘Morgan’s Journey,’ was invited to the city of Qom in Iran, which is the most religious and fundamentalist anti-West city in Iran (sometimes called The Vatican City of Iran). Every year the city hosts international conferences and seminars around Islam but arts and international cultural activities are spurned as symbols of Western culture or elitism.
‘Morgan’s Journey’ was the first Foreign and “Western” theatre performance in the history of the city since the Islamic Revolution 35 years ago. This fact created a small media frenzy in which media and organizers referred to the performance as a “Cultural Revolution in Qom”, “a unique cultural event” where “Taboos and traditions were broken.”

This is what the organizers said after the performance: “The performance happened without any interruptions or protests (There were security guards around the theatre to take action should this have happened) to damage the religious image of the city. This fact in itself was a clear response to the backward fundamentalists. Now that taboo has been broken, it has opened the door for future foreign performances in the city. The performance of ‘Morgan’s Journey’, its strength and its message wiped out the misconceptions and pessimism towards Western culture that was in the mind of the audiences of this city. It proved to them that even a “Western” play can talk about humanity, that it is not all about “Sex” and “immorality” (and that’s how badly publicity has portrayed “West” in the Muslim world, similar to the way Muslims are portrayed as “Terrorists” in West) This performance initiated a small dialogue but with a lasting impact between the west and Qom, a real dialogue of humanity and love…”

Sparrow feels proud to have been part of this event and the changes that it will bring to the arts community in Qom.

Robert Morgan’s reflection: “My experience performing Morgan's Journey in Iran ranks high on my ‘all-time highlight’ list. To have been part of such an intimately shared experience with large audiences in a foreign land was unexpected… and unexpectedly moving.

After these performances, particularly the performance in the city of Qom when asked, ‘What is the message of the play?’ I found myself saying, ‘I’m not sure there is one.’ I have been performing Morgan's Journey for more than 25 years and it seems to me now that the play is simply a shared experience of being attentive to the present moment…

…it seems the play is becoming more and more engaging for audiences and some of the moments in the play are becoming infused with a joy that seems to be growing deeper and deeper - perhaps because I’m finally learning how to play them… but it also seems that joy is aroused by the shared recognition of our common humanity… and perhaps with that comes compassion, a sense of hope and well-being and, dare we say it, love.”

On Audiences in Isfahan, Iran by Robert Morgan

2009-01-05T10:57:00.000-08:00

I found audiences in Iran to be very accepting and exceedingly generous. Any sign of insight into Iranian culture by foreign performers was cause for delight and an easily tossed in word of Farsi here and there at any point in a show was met with immediate applause. In our show for example, Morgan’s first word is an extended “Alleluia” after the discovery of his body and voice, which I would quickly follow with “Eh Khohda,” a similar recognition of the glory of the sacred in Farsi. The audiences gasped at first … but the gasp was followed with laughter that billowed up into extended and exuberant applause.

I was fortunate to be able to take this phenomenon a few steps further several times during my performances thanks to Anahita’s thorough knowledge of the culture. My favorite was the use of the ‘thumbs-up’ signal that signifies in the West that everything is “okay” or “Terrific!” It seems that most Iranians understand the West’s use of this gesture (as in Arnold’s final decent in ‘The Terminator’) and I had used it myself in various situations and conversations.

However, in Iran, the gesture connotes exactly the same thing as the West’s raising of the middle finger, known in some places as ‘flipping the bird’. At one point during the performance when Morgan is particularly thrilled with the ways things are unfolding in his life, he shouts out something like, “This is excellent!” and gives the moment a thumbs up. The audiences did not react audibly to the thumb, mostly out of politeness (I found Iranians to be an extremely polite people), but also likely mixed with embarrassment at such a public display of rudeness… and Anahita assured me that everyone realized I was unwittingly being extremely vulgar.

In accordance with the simple conceit that my character has just been born and must learn everything from the audience, I took the opportunity to explore this thumbs-up moment. As if sensing something, I would stop and look at my thumb, then back to the audience, my smile would transform into a look of confusion about what they were feeling, I would slowly lower my thumb until it was hidden in my palm as I suddenly filled with remorse I obviously did not understand.

It brought down the house. In the last few shows I began embellishing another unwitting thumbs-up moment with the Farsi word “Khafan.” Anahita had explained that it’s a word used by Iranian youth to signify something really fabulous, but actually means much the same as “wicked” and though not exactly vulgar, the use of the word is offensive and deeply disapproved of by the older generation. At a point during the play my search for a suitable expression of joy ended with a decidedly raunchy delivery of “It’s… Khafan!” accompanied by a ‘thumbs-up’. The immediate explosion of laughter, a mix of outrage and delight was overwhelming and in my confusion I immediately hid my thumb and sheepishly covered my mouth with the other hand. It was ‘Magic’ - “Stop-it-Bob-you’re-killin’-me” - and I have to say, it was really fun to perform!

Another addition to the play was based on a major political development that was unfolding during our time of performances. In Isfahan there was a general strike at the Grand Bazaar, the hub of commerce in the city. Merchants were protesting a 6% tax that had been levied on all goods sold. Protesters had spilled out onto the streets and the protestors who marched past our hotel were loud and passionate. When we arrived the next day in Tehran the strike had spread to the Grand Bazaar of that city as well. Though the press barely recognized it, it seemed very big news among the people… and it was repeatedly pointed out to us that the last time the Grand Bazaar had been on strike, it had marked the beginning of the revolution that brought about the overthrow of the Shaw.

I mention all this because it was very much on everyone’s mind at the time of the two performances of Morgan’s Journey at the House of the Artists in the heart of Tehran. Early on in the play, Morgan opens the presents he has received for his birthday and during the Tehran performances his second-to-last present was an official looking envelope; inside was a letter, which was read aloud and translated into Farsi:
“To Morgan. On all the gifts that you have received you must now pay…”
I then held up the page and asked, “What’s this?”
Written in large font in Farsi it read, “6% tax.”
When the laughter subsided (it took a while) I then asked the question I asked about all my presents – “Will it make me happy?”
Jeering can be fun too.

It seemed from that moment on the audience was definitely waiting to see what was coming next and at some point during the play, they began doing so in silence, something that was very intriguing for the Iranian theatre professionals I spoke with afterwards.

My experience as a member of audiences in Isfahan had been that the excitement displayed entering the venues of all of the festival pieces that we attended, continued throughout the performances. Members would eat, drink and converse their way through the evening’s entertainment. There was a constant hum of conversation, an occasional call out to a child who drifted too far away from the family as well as a constant, quiet rumble of movement as people shifted, stood or exited for refreshment or other facilities.

But in all of the relatively large halls where I played for 600 to a thousand people, (2,500 at the closing event) by the time we approached the heart of Morgan’s emotional dilemma leading to his subsequent death, it was “pin-drop city” silent… and personally, very moving. I was not alone.

Isfahan's International Festival for Children and Young Adults by Robert Morgan

2009-01-05T10:43:00.000-08:00

The publicity of the 15th Isfahan International Theatre Festival for Children and Young People was so effective that it drew many more people than the organizers had hoped for – both a challenge and a triumph. People had come from nearby cities to see the works and the 600-seat-plus theatres would fill to overflowing. For many this was their first introduction to theatre, particularly foreign works and their engagement and response was generous – and at times with ‘Morgan’s Journey,’ lavish!

The Festival organizers asked us to present an excerpt of ‘Morgan’s Journey’ at the closing ceremony to be performed in a large theatre/auditorium for 2,500 people and the event was to be broadcast live on television throughout Iran. That fact that we were the only company presenting at the festival that was invited to perform was an indication of how well the play had been received and we were honored to oblige… however, as the evening unfolded, we became less than enthusiastic.

We were already tired and the night proved to be exhausting. There were no back-stage facilities other than one concrete basement room that was filled with hundreds of young Iranian children getting into costumes and makeup and squealing to each other about what they had either forgotten or needed to do next. We had to leave the room in order to hear the event coordinator’s instructions to us and Robert changed into his costume in the back seat of a car parked outside.

There was no technical set up before the presentation. The stage was cluttered with banners, sculptures, life-size dolls and puppets, un-tethered balloons wafted about everywhere and five or six robot-like lighting devices that moved about seemingly of their own freewill spread impressive whirling beams of light in all directions - including out into the audience. Sporadic bursts of gunshots, that startled the daylights out of us each time they sounded, catapulted sprays of bits of coloured paper onto the stage and this happened throughout the evening, seemingly at random.

There was one follow-spot set up at the back of the hall and we chose to use just that, fearful of what would happen if the robot-lights got involved. What I did not realize at the time was that my performance was upstaged by a simultaneous broadcast of the proceedings on a huge screen behind me.

The 10-minute excerpt/presentation of ‘Morgan’s Journey’ was a stark contrast to the other acts that appeared during the three-hour extravaganza. The MC for the night was a young and energetic version of what I recall of Game-Show Television hosts, with the addition of a Paul Anka/Wayne Newton approach to songs, which he reveled in, often. The other acts we saw were loud and raucous, relying heavily on huge speakers that pounded out lots of base… and the place was shakin’! I wonder now if perhaps it was a kind of condoned defiance to the traditional rejection of negative Western influences – and at that point I was considering much of the loud fanfare and super-amplified base a definitely negative aspect of Western culture.

Interestingly enough, in the face of all of this, Anahita reckons that it was one of the two best performances of our entire tour. She based this on her perception of the audience response, which she was able to gauge better than I, who, blinded by the spotlight and struggling in terribly twisted tights felt distracted and separated from the audience – which just goes to show that performers can be the least qualified to judge the effectiveness of any given performance. I leave it to Anahita to describe what she saw.

“In that 10-minute segment, Robert was able to connect with the audience of 2,500, make them feel proud of their hospitality, get to their hearts individually and respond communally with a joy they hadn’t experienced in the theatre before. They were beyond themselves. He left the Iranian theatre community in awe, asking “ How did one person do that?””

Let's begin with some misadvantures

2008-11-08T07:23:00.000-08:00

Phewa Lake, Pokhara, Nepal

Sorry. Blogging doesn’t seem to be our strong suit. We regret having not made an entry until now.

But here we are in Pokhara Nepal, a 7 to 12 hour bus ride from Kathmandu with the Himalayas soaring unbelievably in the horizon, taking the first day of a planned three-day respite. The wisdom of our initial plan of a three-to-four-day trek during this time has been called into question. The actor did two shows yesterday and finds himself weary after the ascent of the three flights of stairs to his room in The Tibet Home Hotel.

View of Himalayan Annapurna range from all around Pokhara

There has also been a terribly consistent (disappointing and frustrating) number of errors made by a travel agent in Kathmandu that has left us having to deal with the fact that we still have no air tickets to Pakistan, our next destination (where a lovely young man has organized a 2-day theatre festival based on our presentation of ‘Morgan’s Journey’, which seems to be the only production.)

When we now hear the phrases “No problem,” “Sure, why not?” or “It’s all arranged” we either flinch, duck or burst out laughing. The direct results of these assurances have resulted in the following:

Being left in the middle of a dirt field in Pokhara (a.k.a. the bus depot) under a hot mid-day sun after a “5 hour bus ride” (read 8 hour endurance test) surrounded by taxi drivers and hotel employees all offering their services using all kinds of creative elaborations of the three dreaded phrases as we wait to be met by the friend of our host who had arranged everything no problem.

The bus depot at Pokhara

Standing, several hours later outside the “hostel” where we were to be met by the mysterious friend of our host who had not showed up, had not mentioned anything of our arrival to the only person at the hostel (a woman who seemed to be the house-keeper who knew as much as we did, which at that point was nothing at all) and was now not answering his cell phone.

Sitting, several hours later with the Director of a school for 1600 girls and boys in his office with the vice-principal and another man who appeared to be 2nd in command being asked the question, “Who are you and why are you here?”

Upon understanding that we were offering free performances of an award-winning play from Canada, listening to the Director begin making arrangements for a performance that evening and three the next day. The story of finding suitable accommodation for the night goes on from there at length, but suffice it to say I think to everyone’s credit we arrived at a workable solution.
The next day found the performer facing a field of some of the most beautiful children he had ever seen sitting in brilliant soft sunlight with two jagged, snow-covered Himalayan peaks behind them – definitely the play’s most spectacular venue to date, bar none.

School Kids at Kumudini School of Pokhara, Nepal

We are also letting go of our dream of trekking because we need a break. And we need to correspond! The blog is our first priority… then to the emails.

… though let me ( Robert) quickly say that in some ways it has been a very good thing to have been so consistently disconnected from all things computer and internet based. To break with the ongoing daily habitual checking of correspondence through email etc. has been liberating, simplifying and somehow just plain good it seems, leaving us more committed to the moment… and we have been living rich moments, for the most part computer free.

(That said, I did find it wonderful and amazing and moving to be able to walk around the Moradokmai Theatre Community in Thailand a few weeks ago, conversing with Susie and Clare in Toronto through Anahita’s laptop, which was held open in front of me as I walked so they could see the ponds, dwellings, children and some of the people of whom we were speaking… all free, through Skype I believe, and obviously a wonderful use of the technology. (Wi Fi has not been so easily accessible in Nepal.)

Moradokmai Theatre School in Patumtani, Thailand

We would love to give you a brief reflection of the countries that we have visited so far. We start with the festival in the city of Isfahan, a five-hour drive from Tehran.

2008-10-24T07:53:00.001-07:00

http://www.nowtoronto.com/stage/story.cfm?content=165557#Story_Tools

We are still here

2008-09-25T22:32:00.000-07:00

We haven’t left yet.
We are busy packing and preparing to leave for Isfahan in Iran, Patumtani in Thailand, Kathmandu in Nepal and Lahore in Pakistan and places in between.

Departure: October 5th, 2008
Return: November 24, 2008

Stay tuned.