I got cast in the stage play/reading of “Voices From Chornobyl” that will be performing at the EdgeFest on Saturday, June 30th. (Yes, it is spelled with an “o” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chornobyl), it wasn’t a mistake.)
We had our first rehearsal last night and the director Cindy Marie Jenkins is pretty amazing. I haven’t seen a director who gives this much homework to their actors. I don’t think it’s bad. I thinks it very, very cool.
I know, that most of the research the actors do themselves however, I did some plays and films that had historical significance, and non of the directors ever bothered with details. In my experience, it was always up to the actor to gather background info. Or not.
But Cindy had a big pile of paper for us to take home and read over (and yes, all the paper was recycled, with old scripts on the back side! I love her for that!)
She gave us background on the play – The original book was written by Svetlana Alexievich and translated into English in 1999. Cindy Marie Jenkins adapted it and had the first reading at the Fountain Theatre, Hollywood, in 2005 and then the first stage performance at the Open Fist Theatre, Hollywood in 2006.
She gave us the Chernobyl history broken down to the minute and seconds as the accident happened.
She gave us some information about the continuing hazards of this accident. If you are interested in reading up on it, follow the BBC link. Fascinating a scary!
Cindy also gave us a print out that compares Chernobyl with other disasters and a few pages of an interview with the writer of the original book.
I’m going to do my own research and I’m also going to interview my family. In 1986, when the accident happened, my immediate family and I lived in Germany. But the rest of the family was in Hungary. We had crops and we all were afraid. Afraid of the unknown. The women didn’t know if the radiation will affect their future children. We didn’t know if it was all right to eat the crops, the fruits and vegetables. There were pop songs about the accident and it’s after effects. We made fun of the incident, and we were crying over it at the same time.
It will be a very interesting journey! I’m looking forward to it and I’m very happy to be part of this play. This is something that I can relate to. This is something that is relevant even here in the United States.
If you don’t have anything planned for the 30th, we will be performing at 2 pm at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Ride your bike or take the Metro. The Red Line is just around the corner. Come and say hi to me afterwards.
