Today we concluded our third day of work--9 hours so far. S has a serious fear of risk taking alone and a fear of failure. K didn't show up today and we found out she was at the dentist. L had to go to the consulate to see about a VISA to Turkey. I and A and S said they do not have any older relatives who know any folktales. The older lady we were supposed to go and see today ended up going to the village with her daughter...S.O knows many folktales and told us two today. She said we might be able to go to her village and visit her grandmother etc. I am looking into ways we can perform not only in Bejaia but also in surrounding villages at youth centers and other small theatre's. Maybe that is how we will reach and inspire more people. My goal of reviving the tradition of the folktale seems a bit far fetched now...but hopefully this project will be a way of transmiting the stories in another way...
And we keep marching on...
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
BejaiaOranAlgiersBejaia
16 June in Bejaia
Today Bejaia won the Coup d’Algérie—the entire city took to the streets and danced—old women, babies, old men, young men, students…everyone. Except me. I was watching it all on TV and forgot that I was supposed to meet S at the Cultural House. Then I was too freaked out to go on my own—entertaining images of being trampled in a crowd that has so little opportunity to let loose…
26 June in Oran
Lately I have been discussing Algerian identity with Oranian artists. Their point of view is quite different than that of many of the Berbers I have met in various parts of the world. One thing that comes up often is while these folks are Arabophone they are acutely aware that they are also Berber. “We are mixed, especially those of us with roots in Oran. We are Berber, Arab, Spanish, French, Turkish…” Another said—“yes it is extremely unfortunate that in school we are not taught Berber, Tamazight, but which Berber should they teach us? Kabyle, Touareg, Chaoui?” He continued “Tamazight was just recently written down in a way that made it possible to study in school…Arabic has been used as a literary language for millennia so it’s much easier to transmit from generation to generation across borders and continents.” Another said “I wish we could find an Algerian identity that makes sense for 2008—were the diversity and history of this country was celebrated and used as a way to bring us together rather than to create divisions between people living between the same borders.”
One thing I know is true: no matter what household I find myself in here in Algeria certain things do not change: the intense sense of humor of the people, a love of french fries I will never quite understand, homemade bread, doilies doilies everywhere, and the TV always on…
Here in Oran I have met women between 60 and 90 years old with impeccable French, noticed that people in the street talk about music, theatre and cinema, met my generation of Algerian hipsters, seen women at the beach in Miami style bikinis, attended a jazz concert at the Regional Theatre of Oran with a packed house, and seen the Berber sign of liberty painted on many many a wall…
3 July Bejaia and then Algiers
I met with the KFP actresses yesterday—looks like we are 6 for sure and still waiting on 3…not nearly as many as I was hoping. There is a bit of a divide between “you should do this project during the school year when we don’t spend so much time at the beach” and “thank goodness you are doing this during the summer when we spend all day at home with nothing to do and start to feel totally disgusted with life…” I’m not sure who to listen to!
One of the actresses I have already gotten to know quite well. She has been telling me her life story in small pieces—of dropping out of school because she and her mom moved around so much, squatting in abandoned buildings, living horrific situations behind closed doors…she said she never felt like she was worth anything until she found the theatre community…”but there’s not enough to do here, there are not enough opportunities to perform.” After our meeting this week she said: “I am so excited to begin, I feel like I am reliving the first time I was cast in a show…” She’s why I am here.
I’ve decided to stay with a new family for July—a friend of a friend whose house is along the edge of the sea over looking the port of Bejaia with a grand terrace.
Right now I am in Algiers at my aunts until Saturday (Algerian Independence Day) because I have been invited to the US Embassy for a 4th of July BBQ potluck. Yes, the US Embassy has insisted its citizens in Algeria provide the salad and beverages. Really? It has to be a potluck? They can’t provide for us just this once? I am looking forward to meeting other Americans in Algeria. I am super curious as to what they are doing here…
July 4 in Algiers
Today Bejaia won the Coup d’Algérie—the entire city took to the streets and danced—old women, babies, old men, young men, students…everyone. Except me. I was watching it all on TV and forgot that I was supposed to meet S at the Cultural House. Then I was too freaked out to go on my own—entertaining images of being trampled in a crowd that has so little opportunity to let loose…
26 June in Oran
Lately I have been discussing Algerian identity with Oranian artists. Their point of view is quite different than that of many of the Berbers I have met in various parts of the world. One thing that comes up often is while these folks are Arabophone they are acutely aware that they are also Berber. “We are mixed, especially those of us with roots in Oran. We are Berber, Arab, Spanish, French, Turkish…” Another said—“yes it is extremely unfortunate that in school we are not taught Berber, Tamazight, but which Berber should they teach us? Kabyle, Touareg, Chaoui?” He continued “Tamazight was just recently written down in a way that made it possible to study in school…Arabic has been used as a literary language for millennia so it’s much easier to transmit from generation to generation across borders and continents.” Another said “I wish we could find an Algerian identity that makes sense for 2008—were the diversity and history of this country was celebrated and used as a way to bring us together rather than to create divisions between people living between the same borders.”
One thing I know is true: no matter what household I find myself in here in Algeria certain things do not change: the intense sense of humor of the people, a love of french fries I will never quite understand, homemade bread, doilies doilies everywhere, and the TV always on…
Here in Oran I have met women between 60 and 90 years old with impeccable French, noticed that people in the street talk about music, theatre and cinema, met my generation of Algerian hipsters, seen women at the beach in Miami style bikinis, attended a jazz concert at the Regional Theatre of Oran with a packed house, and seen the Berber sign of liberty painted on many many a wall…
3 July Bejaia and then Algiers
I met with the KFP actresses yesterday—looks like we are 6 for sure and still waiting on 3…not nearly as many as I was hoping. There is a bit of a divide between “you should do this project during the school year when we don’t spend so much time at the beach” and “thank goodness you are doing this during the summer when we spend all day at home with nothing to do and start to feel totally disgusted with life…” I’m not sure who to listen to!
One of the actresses I have already gotten to know quite well. She has been telling me her life story in small pieces—of dropping out of school because she and her mom moved around so much, squatting in abandoned buildings, living horrific situations behind closed doors…she said she never felt like she was worth anything until she found the theatre community…”but there’s not enough to do here, there are not enough opportunities to perform.” After our meeting this week she said: “I am so excited to begin, I feel like I am reliving the first time I was cast in a show…” She’s why I am here.
I’ve decided to stay with a new family for July—a friend of a friend whose house is along the edge of the sea over looking the port of Bejaia with a grand terrace.
Right now I am in Algiers at my aunts until Saturday (Algerian Independence Day) because I have been invited to the US Embassy for a 4th of July BBQ potluck. Yes, the US Embassy has insisted its citizens in Algeria provide the salad and beverages. Really? It has to be a potluck? They can’t provide for us just this once? I am looking forward to meeting other Americans in Algeria. I am super curious as to what they are doing here…
July 4 in Algiers
And in the middle of the classiest neighborhood in Algiers I ate deviled eggs, tuna salad, big ol’ hamburger with a pickle and a brownie. I met folks who work in various departments at the Embassy. I am going to try and dream up an “American” influenced cultural program for next year. Naomi Wallace in Oran and Algiers?
Two things that I have come to realize recently:
It does me no good to continue to mourn the things in the States and Europe that I wish were here—my favorite coffee shops for example—living in a different country would be boring if everywhere you went it was the same décor, the same mentality, the same way of life…
Also, sometimes when I go out I have this voice in my head saying “Algeria is out to get you! Be careful!” And I feel all tense and catch myself scowling a lot. But as soon as I relax and think: “go with the river rather than against it, you are just as welcome here as someone who grew up on this street, you belong here” I relax, my language skills come easier, I walk with more confidence and feel more apart of the daily tableau rather than the odd one out.
July 7 in Bejaia
The KFP began yesterday. I have 7 talented young women working with me. We created a big list of goals for the project and posted on the theatre walls. I insist that we clean the stage everyday. When we arrived yesterday is was a mess and the guardian kept saying "don't clean that's the work of a guardian!" But if we don't clean who will...so we got the soap and the brooms. What I've noticed here is that as soon as you start an action people come to help you. But dream on if you are going to wait for someone else to take the initiative.
Tomorrow afternoon after our morning session we are going to visit an old woman storyteller. "But I am warning you" N said, "if her knees hurt we won't get a single story out of her."
By the way the 3 picture posted in me being interviewed by the Amazigh radio station in Oran at the Arab Film Festival.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Interlude in Oran
I finally met with the 8 women who will be participating in the KFP. There are 2 more that will be joining us in July. We start officially on July 6. I have had to rearrange the schedule a bit to accomodate everyone--I had been ambitious in the beginning and thought we could work 5 days a week...then it became 4 days and now 3 and everyone is happy. The group is a mix of mainly women in their early 20s. Some have performed before at the TRB or in university theatre organizations and a few have never been on stage before. One woman said "I can't believe you came all this way to work with us! I never thought an American would ever bother to create theatre in Algeria..." I was really quite blown away. For me this project is a must do. I have never given it a second thought.
For the next two weeks I am in Oran where I have been invited to provide an outside eye for a solo show produced by a young up and coming company here. I am having a complete Algerian awakening between the people I have met in Bejaia and Oran. Artists who fall directly into the hipster category--glasses and all, connaisseurs of jazz and Marx, projects abroad and Algerian tours, trilingual book collections...
The Regional Theatre of Oran that was built in 1897 and is emmaculate. I have never seen a space so well taken care of in Algeria. Yesterday, when I toured the theatre even the men cleaning the marble stairs were working so tenderly on the space and with such respect I just wanted to stand and watch them work.
For the next two weeks I am in Oran where I have been invited to provide an outside eye for a solo show produced by a young up and coming company here. I am having a complete Algerian awakening between the people I have met in Bejaia and Oran. Artists who fall directly into the hipster category--glasses and all, connaisseurs of jazz and Marx, projects abroad and Algerian tours, trilingual book collections...
The Regional Theatre of Oran that was built in 1897 and is emmaculate. I have never seen a space so well taken care of in Algeria. Yesterday, when I toured the theatre even the men cleaning the marble stairs were working so tenderly on the space and with such respect I just wanted to stand and watch them work.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
On being Algerienne
A new friend of mine was invited to MC a conference “on the state of the Algerian woman” at the cultural house last week. Apparently each wilaya was to send a small delegation of women to attend the conference. She said that when she got on stage she saw a group of men staring back at her.
There are still more men who work in the theatre than women in Algeria--the opposite of the states where men have a much easier time getting cast than women. And LIKE in the US, women are less likely to be directors. But the administration of most theatres seems to be women. It’s the old thing of women running the show behind the scenes and the men the face of the space.
Bejaia is the only city in Algeria where I have ever sat at a café on my own. There is a café in the Place Gueydon where women go regularly. It’s a mixed, mutually respected space. Otherwise I do go into cafés that are typically part of a male space. But I go in a group or with another male. I always judge the atmosphere of the café by the amount of women seated. Hundreds of intellectuals have written about this clear division of space in this part of the world—and what it means when a woman or a man enter into a space not designated for them…in this country of contradictions those spaces are shifting…but at the speed of a snail.
This week I am staying with one of the women who will work on the KFP. She and her mom live alone. It is almost impossible to rent as a woman here according to the director a women’s organization here in Bejaia.
I should have 9 at the first KFP meeting on Tuesday. One young woman I talked to who had said she was interested in the project said “no problem, Taous, I’ll be there Tuesday, that’s not a problem.” As if she is doing me a favor. I guess maybe…I am the one who had the idea in the first place…
Another actor who is currently working on a show at the TRB came running up to me the other day and said “Taous I found you two actors on the bus.” On the bus? He picked up two women on the bus and promised them a part in my play…
Below are some recent comments that have come in my direction. The hard part to digest coming from the states is that these are the comments of my Grandmother’s generation. But I always feel so conflicted because Algeria is such a different context I hesitate to compare the two places so directly. At the same time when I share these comments with my new friends in the artistic community they roll their eyes and say “come on, it’s 2008.”
“A woman should have a job that allows her to keep house and take care of her children.”
“As soon as a woman has children she is condemned to the home.”
“The most important part of a Kabyle woman’s life is to satisfy her husband.”
“This is not the USA. This is Africa. Don’t forget you can’t behave like an American.”
“Men who travel have nothing to worry about. But for a woman it’s different. It’s harder for them to figure things out on their own.”
There are still more men who work in the theatre than women in Algeria--the opposite of the states where men have a much easier time getting cast than women. And LIKE in the US, women are less likely to be directors. But the administration of most theatres seems to be women. It’s the old thing of women running the show behind the scenes and the men the face of the space.
Bejaia is the only city in Algeria where I have ever sat at a café on my own. There is a café in the Place Gueydon where women go regularly. It’s a mixed, mutually respected space. Otherwise I do go into cafés that are typically part of a male space. But I go in a group or with another male. I always judge the atmosphere of the café by the amount of women seated. Hundreds of intellectuals have written about this clear division of space in this part of the world—and what it means when a woman or a man enter into a space not designated for them…in this country of contradictions those spaces are shifting…but at the speed of a snail.
This week I am staying with one of the women who will work on the KFP. She and her mom live alone. It is almost impossible to rent as a woman here according to the director a women’s organization here in Bejaia.
I should have 9 at the first KFP meeting on Tuesday. One young woman I talked to who had said she was interested in the project said “no problem, Taous, I’ll be there Tuesday, that’s not a problem.” As if she is doing me a favor. I guess maybe…I am the one who had the idea in the first place…
Another actor who is currently working on a show at the TRB came running up to me the other day and said “Taous I found you two actors on the bus.” On the bus? He picked up two women on the bus and promised them a part in my play…
Below are some recent comments that have come in my direction. The hard part to digest coming from the states is that these are the comments of my Grandmother’s generation. But I always feel so conflicted because Algeria is such a different context I hesitate to compare the two places so directly. At the same time when I share these comments with my new friends in the artistic community they roll their eyes and say “come on, it’s 2008.”
“A woman should have a job that allows her to keep house and take care of her children.”
“As soon as a woman has children she is condemned to the home.”
“The most important part of a Kabyle woman’s life is to satisfy her husband.”
“This is not the USA. This is Africa. Don’t forget you can’t behave like an American.”
“Men who travel have nothing to worry about. But for a woman it’s different. It’s harder for them to figure things out on their own.”
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The Kids in the House
The Children’s Theatre Festival is almost over. A Theatre festival organized in a week. Some friend’s of mine performed in the resort town of Tichy just outside of Bejaia. The performance was in an old cinema that hasn’t been used in years. The seats are so old they are starting to desintegrate and you end up sitting at a strange angle. There is absolutely no lighting—the walls are crumbling, the curtains torn to shreads, and pigeons and sea gulls have built nests in the rafters.
The cinema/theatre is in a neighborhood that nobody in Tichy ever goes to—it’s the part of town where you could easily find a prostitute. Broken beer bottles all over the ground, men waiting impatiently under over hanging bushes…etc etc. My friends found a group of 5 boys playing in the street and invited them into the cinema for their own private performance. They put 5 chairs on stage and improvised gags and jokes and slapstick for 45 minutes. The kids were totally beside themselves. And there’s where the importance and magic of theatre lies—it can happen anywhere for anyone…
I have one more day left of the workshop I am leading for actors of the TRB. There are 5 consistent guys who keep coming and work really hard. The other’s come and go and I can tell they don’t really see the importance of learning to move, taking note of one’s body as an actor…It’s difficult too because the people who drift in and out do not get how I am trying to build one day on the other. And I keep second guessing myself—really who am I to be leading a workshop for the actors of a regional theatre? I told them—look this is all research that we do together—I will propose things but ultimately it’s up to you to take my proposition further on your own. Once it gets physically demanding half the group sits down or asks if they can go and get a coffee.
In other news recuitment for the KFP is going slowly. The folks at the TRB who are helping me have been swamped by this festival. I am leading 4 different workshops at schools here next week (as of Saturday given the Algerian weekend of Thursday and Friday) and I’m hoping something comes of that…we are trying to circulate the word of mouth as much as possible…already today two people have spoken to me about the project.
This afternoon I attended one of the day-time performances of the Festival. The kids in the audience were out of control, let out of their cages. Screaming, chanting, clapping, talking with each other, shouting things at the actors, dancing in their seats to songs in their heads…one entire row was dressed in the Bejaia football team’s colors. Apparently they lost their way en route to the stadium…there were fire fighters and a policeman at the theatre who in the middle of the show and chaos walked right in front of the stage, the props master at one point opened the door to the theatre and lit a cigarette…
For kids here it feels like they are living in a pressure cooker. As soon as there is any activity that gets them out of the rigid constraints that encircle most people in this country they seem to loose all reference points. I am surprised the kids didn’t charge the stage. Actors here tell me stories of kids climbing up on stage with them in the middle of a show.
I led a workshop after the second day-time performance with middle school students. There were exceptional. And oh so much more willing to take risks than the adult actors I am working with in the morning…
The cinema/theatre is in a neighborhood that nobody in Tichy ever goes to—it’s the part of town where you could easily find a prostitute. Broken beer bottles all over the ground, men waiting impatiently under over hanging bushes…etc etc. My friends found a group of 5 boys playing in the street and invited them into the cinema for their own private performance. They put 5 chairs on stage and improvised gags and jokes and slapstick for 45 minutes. The kids were totally beside themselves. And there’s where the importance and magic of theatre lies—it can happen anywhere for anyone…
I have one more day left of the workshop I am leading for actors of the TRB. There are 5 consistent guys who keep coming and work really hard. The other’s come and go and I can tell they don’t really see the importance of learning to move, taking note of one’s body as an actor…It’s difficult too because the people who drift in and out do not get how I am trying to build one day on the other. And I keep second guessing myself—really who am I to be leading a workshop for the actors of a regional theatre? I told them—look this is all research that we do together—I will propose things but ultimately it’s up to you to take my proposition further on your own. Once it gets physically demanding half the group sits down or asks if they can go and get a coffee.
In other news recuitment for the KFP is going slowly. The folks at the TRB who are helping me have been swamped by this festival. I am leading 4 different workshops at schools here next week (as of Saturday given the Algerian weekend of Thursday and Friday) and I’m hoping something comes of that…we are trying to circulate the word of mouth as much as possible…already today two people have spoken to me about the project.
This afternoon I attended one of the day-time performances of the Festival. The kids in the audience were out of control, let out of their cages. Screaming, chanting, clapping, talking with each other, shouting things at the actors, dancing in their seats to songs in their heads…one entire row was dressed in the Bejaia football team’s colors. Apparently they lost their way en route to the stadium…there were fire fighters and a policeman at the theatre who in the middle of the show and chaos walked right in front of the stage, the props master at one point opened the door to the theatre and lit a cigarette…
For kids here it feels like they are living in a pressure cooker. As soon as there is any activity that gets them out of the rigid constraints that encircle most people in this country they seem to loose all reference points. I am surprised the kids didn’t charge the stage. Actors here tell me stories of kids climbing up on stage with them in the middle of a show.
I led a workshop after the second day-time performance with middle school students. There were exceptional. And oh so much more willing to take risks than the adult actors I am working with in the morning…
Monday, June 9, 2008
A note on the state of the Algerian toilet
This is a major problem in this country. It finally dawned on me today—Algerian society has made way for women in the public sphere in the past 25 years. Women are always out and about, running for President, directing the cultural ministry, leading major organizations and political parties, working as Police Sargents, eating out at restaurants and so on and so forth. But the toilet in Algeria has not caught up. Bathrooms in restaurants are often without soap and a waste basket. Where we ate today as part of the festival they didn’t have any water. Today I am presenting in a conference at the Cultural House of Bejaia and I had to go to the bathroom. First of all to find a place to work and prepare before the festival I had to talk to 3 different people before they would let me into the room. Then I had to go to the bathroom. I ask at the “desk.” The man rummages in a drawer and pulls out a key and points 3 doors down. What if I had been at the Cultural House to see a film or a show and I needed to use the bathroom? I wouldn’t know to ask the man in the corner for a key! And in the bathroom there is no toilet paper because most Algerians assume foreigners who come should just adapt to the washing with water rather than wiping method. But there is no soap. So even if we wanted to wash instead of wipe it would be mighty difficult. And the flush on the Turkish toilet sends the water all throughout the WC causing a flood and nearly drowning my backpack. Oh my poor backpack that I will never be able to touch the bottom of again unless I put it through a washing machine with very very hot water.
I have learned never leave the house without Kleenex and hand sanitizer. Please note that at the festival in Egypt that I participated in this past February I was very impressed with the state of the toilets.
In Algeria I have done my business in the following places over the years: at an Army barracks, in a café with rats and cockroaches and at the home of strangers along the roadside. My step-aunt stops drinking water 2 days before going on a road trip. I am close to starting a nation wide petition to better the public sanitary conditions. There must be some oil or gas money...
I have learned never leave the house without Kleenex and hand sanitizer. Please note that at the festival in Egypt that I participated in this past February I was very impressed with the state of the toilets.
In Algeria I have done my business in the following places over the years: at an Army barracks, in a café with rats and cockroaches and at the home of strangers along the roadside. My step-aunt stops drinking water 2 days before going on a road trip. I am close to starting a nation wide petition to better the public sanitary conditions. There must be some oil or gas money...
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Absurdities and Hope
Nora, who is connected to ACAA, arrived the day before yesterday from Paris. Another new friend that I feel like I have known forever. Last night we went to the closing night of the Bejaia film festival. The first short film was an original creation by young Bejaia folk who created sort of a SNL style journal recap of the festival. It was hysterical and Nora and I both looked at each other and said: “there is hope for this country.” Then there was a long film from the 1980s that was as Nora says “a psychiatric nightmare.” The film was set in a completely Berber setting but the actors performed in classical Arabic. And every 10 minutes a woman in the film would have a frenetic fingernail-on-the-wall-hair-tearing-out-of-control-screaming crisis.
My experience in Algeria these past 5 years has always been one of enormous emotional highs and lows. I’ll be laughing hysterically for days, and then sobbing for days, and then totally confused for a few more days. Somehow being apart of this culture and society you have to keep an outside eye, a third objective eye, in order to stay afloat. It’s the blessing and curse of being of multiple cultures, languages and places. We are never satisfied.
Yesterday I wandered the old part of Bejaia near where the theatre is situated. Just gorgeous! The view from the Place Guidon is one of the reasons why I wanted the KFP to take place in Bejaia!
Tomorrow I am meeting with the mayor of Bejaia with Nora to see if the KFP couldn’t be performed in October during a cultural exchange between the city of Creteil (a Paris suburb) and Bejaia. Exciting!
Among other absurdities: we have to arrange our meeting with university students around the European Cup! We cannot schedule anything during a match!
My experience in Algeria these past 5 years has always been one of enormous emotional highs and lows. I’ll be laughing hysterically for days, and then sobbing for days, and then totally confused for a few more days. Somehow being apart of this culture and society you have to keep an outside eye, a third objective eye, in order to stay afloat. It’s the blessing and curse of being of multiple cultures, languages and places. We are never satisfied.
Yesterday I wandered the old part of Bejaia near where the theatre is situated. Just gorgeous! The view from the Place Guidon is one of the reasons why I wanted the KFP to take place in Bejaia!
Tomorrow I am meeting with the mayor of Bejaia with Nora to see if the KFP couldn’t be performed in October during a cultural exchange between the city of Creteil (a Paris suburb) and Bejaia. Exciting!
Among other absurdities: we have to arrange our meeting with university students around the European Cup! We cannot schedule anything during a match!
Nora told me that according to certain anthropologists and ethnologists the fact that Tamazight (the Berber language) still exists is actually a phenomenon—the language and traditions in fact are survivors. Even the TRB’s presentation in the National Theatre Festival was in Arabic, all of discussions and debates at the Cultural House during the film festival in Bejaia were in French. I am not going to write about any of the politics behind this history because I really feel that as an outsider (from the inside) my involvement is completely personal and artistic. But all the same, it’s food for thought, and important to be aware of the climate, conditions, roots and goals that surround me. Creating a public performance cannot be done naively and innocently. A statement is made just in the very act of creation.
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