Archive for the 'Voices From Chornobyl' Category
I did some search on MySpace. I typed in the search “Chornobyl” and a bunch of stuff came up. A lot of people write about the incident and I also found some people who are personally affected by it.
One couple for example adopted two children from Chornobyl. Find out for yourself by going to MySpace.
I also found this link:
http://www.englishrussia.com/?p=293
More links are coming. My computer froze so I’ll be back…
…
…Okay, I’m back with more links:
A Band that is influenced by the diseaster:
http://www.myspace.com/manequinn
myspacetv:
http://vids.myspace.com/…
More links:
http://blog.myspace.com…
http://www.myspace.com/herefordchernobyl
and more to come later…
Voices From Chornobyl | 11.10.2007 23:05 | No Comments
It’s been a week since we performed at the Empty Stage and that chicken song won’t go out of my head. HEEEELP! I wake up with it and I go to bed with the song and thorughout the day it’s constantly, and I mean constantly, in my head.
Voices From Chornobyl | 6.10.2007 11:40 | No Comments
I performed last Sunday in VOICES FROM CHORNOBYL and we had a full house. It was incredible!
My hubby and I had a few cyclists join us on our ride to the theatre and as promised, all cyclists got $5 off their tickets :-). We were three riders going over to the west side, and we met up with three others at the Theatre.
After the show a Russian woman went up to the director in tears. She loved it!
We had people linger a bit afterward but not much. This I think is a good sign. People had a lot to think about. Some of my friends looked like in a daze from all that information that was thrown at them. It was great but also strange.
In the past couple of years I worked on shows that were happy and cheery, and we talked and laughed afterwards. But this feels almost like after “A Bright Room Called Day.” People needed time to absorb and to speak about what they experienced. Some people came over crying, remembering wars that they lived through. The responses of “Voices” reminds me of that.
We have one more show on Sunday, October 14th at 7 pm and the seats are filling up fast. Please, RSVP now at 323.552.3333 or email bookshoptheatre@gmail.com to get your seats. Again, we offer $5 off for anyone arriving on a bike. More info is on the website www.voicesfromchornobyl.com
I hope to see you after the show!
Performances, Voices From Chornobyl | 5.10.2007 16:11 | No Comments
Todays rehearsal was so much fun! I think I laughed some tears 
I wish I could see the production as an audience member. I got goosebumps a few times during the run-through.
Cindy said that she got emotionally involved when she watched the rehearsal. Cindy read the book a million times, she knows some of the lines by heart and if she still gets moved, that says a lot.
I’m looking forward to performing tomorrow night. I’m nervous but I’m also very excited!
Voices From Chornobyl | 29.09.2007 23:11 | No Comments
This cast is pretty amazing. I feel completely safe with everyone. I felt safe just crying my eyes out yesterday. I was crying from exhaustion. I felt safe today falling asleep while we were running lines.
That’s all we did today at rehearsal. Running lines. We ran them italian style, which is the speed read. We ran off book and on book. We red a few scenes separately and we also red the entire play from beginning to end stuttering, trying to remember our cues and our lines. It was great!
Tonight was very casual. No acting. Just rehearsing lines. And I felt very comfortable with everyone. It was a great rehearsal. And I got a shut-eye as well
Voices From Chornobyl | 28.09.2007 1:23 | No Comments
Yesterday I had no time to work on Chornobyl. I’ve rehearsed for another play, that will open in October, then I had to do some VO work for that other play. After that, I ran to vote at my Neighborhood Council election and then I was off to a Women In Theatre Quarterly Mixer that I was hosting. I didn’t get home until 11 pm. Dead tired!
I didn’t read the book, I didn’t pick up the script, I didn’t practice my lines. Nothing. The only thing I did was find in the morning a pair of thick knitting needles and some thick yarn. And I knitted three rows in the “library.”
I liked the idea of knitting during Anna’s interview. Cindy loved it so much, she asked me if I could knit something 10 feet long. Ha! She said that it’s not necessary but she loves the visual of Anna knitting an endless scarf.
I love the idea as well and even though Cindy said it’s not important, for me it is. I want to make the directors vision true. It’s her play and I love to be directed. Not bossed around. But directed. And Cindy does it well. So I’m going to try to knit an endless scarf for Sundays performance.
So much to do! I hope I’ll know my lines tonight at rehearsal. I’m really nervous. Only 4 days left. And I’m worried about my cues. I’m worried about remembering my lines. I’m just a nervous wreck today. Aaaarrrrggghhh!!!
Voices From Chornobyl | 26.09.2007 15:25 | No Comments
Anna Petrovna Badaeva loves nature. And so do I. Cindy offered me Anna’s role because she new that Anna and I are very compatible.So why do I struggle with my character? Why do I struggle with my lines? Why do I have such difficulty to connect to some words? Because I did not live through the disaster?
Tonight, after rehearsal I rode home on my bicycle and four full grown coyotes crossed my path. I slowed down and followed them. They stopped and looked at me. They were curious. I held my distance. I watched them and they watched me.
Then three of them started playing with each other. They looked beautiful. They let me watch them. And when I decided to go, one of them ran ahead of me and the other three were following me while they were chasing leaves on the ground.
I was so happy with them, I had to laugh out loud. I thought of Anna. I thought of her and I thought, this is how she would laugh. This is how she would feel amongst the animals. I think I truly found the connection with her tonight. I found the connection we share. To the animals. To earth.
What will happen to the part of her life that I can’t connect to? Who knows. I’ll keep looking.
Voices From Chornobyl | 20.09.2007 12:40 | No Comments
I’ve been rehearsing all week long for two plays that I’m involved in. “Taking Sides” and “Voices From Chornobyl” (I just built the website for it, check it out) two plays that are historical and that are heavy.
I have been rehearsing each day rotating the plays. One day I’m in Russia in 1986 and the next day I’m in Berlin, Germany in 1946.
My head is spinning and I just want to cry for all the people, for all those in the unknown, for all those who suffered. I want to scream, and wail after some of the rehearsals. And I want to shut everything out at times.
But I love what I’m working on! I love that I feel so alive that I can feel so much! I love the emotions that come up during rehearsal and during research.
Tomorrow I’m back in Russia and Sunday in Germany again. What a week! What an adventure! What a journey! I’m glad to be alive and healthy!
Performances, Taking Sides, Voices From Chornobyl | 14.09.2007 15:33 | No Comments
It’s going to be a busy weekend with the EdgeFest and the The Bicycle Film Festival and the HelMel Block Party at the Bicycle Kitchen.
The Bicycle Film Festival is this week from June 28th through July 1st in Hollywood at the Vine Theatre.
The EdgeFest is on June 30th from 12 noon to 12 midnight in Downtown L.A. at the Regent Theatre.
The HelMel Block Party is on July 1st from 12 noon to 8 pm at Heliotrope Drive at Melrose Avenue in East Hollywood.
Join us for a ride on Saturday to both the EdgeFest and the Bicycle Film Festival.
We are riding to the EdgeFest on Saturday at 11:30 am from Hollywood to Downtown. We are meeting at the Hollywood and Western Red Line Station to see my play “Voices From Chornobyl” in the early afternoon.
Tickets are $12 for the entire day and they have an open bar.
At around 3 pm we will be heading back to Hollywood to the Bicycle Film Festival where we’ll stay until they kick us out.
Tickets are $8 per screening (and pst! You can bring your own bar 
)
Please, please, please, RSVP with me if you are joining me on any of the rides.
I haven’t heard back from many of you and since I will be making spoke cards, I’d like to get a head count.
Bike Ride, Performances, Voices From Chornobyl | 25.06.2007 16:23 | No Comments
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.
Auditions, Goals, Rehearsals, Voices From Chornobyl | 16.06.2007 16:13 | No Comments