New skills

I'm not sure if these are new skills or old ones but they certainly aren't skills I've used before. On Friday evening, I found myself narrating the voice-over for a little film about Behzad's amateur theatre group in Istanbul (ASO). Spencer was doing the editing on his Mac, which is a new skill for him, and Behzad - you guessed it - was directing!

I never knew it but I read quite quickly - at least out loud. I had to slow things down so much that I felt like I was wading through molasses. (Janet will get all this!) The instant feedback of being able to hear it right away in playback was very useful in moderating my speed and inflection. Usually my reading takes place in front of little kids and the content is roaring lions or the Grinch. This time I was reading translated monologues from the thespians telling the listener what their theatre group means to them. It's quite inspiring, actually.

Once I got over being nervous, I loved the feeling of working together with other people on something that's creative and really matters. It's a good thing I liked it because we worked from 7:30 until after one in the morning and we aren't finished yet. Yesterday Behzad and I edited the English in the last seven of the translated monologues. That's all of them now - there are more than 20.

Behzad and I started this project early last winter when we met quite a few times for evening coffees and I got him to tell me the story of the theatre, the founders and 'players', how it came to be, - even how he came to be involved with it. I was in my 'interviewer' element! Eventually, we wrote a letter to a woman whom Nori's theatrical cousin in Germany knows. This woman, Greta, anonymously donates funds to struggling theatre enterprises. People know her first name but they contact her via email, and they never meet her or know when she attends a performance. Sort of like a restaurant critic.

After I listened to Behzad's story, I wrote a letter to her on behalf of the group and Behzad, and we sent it off in the spring. Lo and behold, and despite Behzad's pessimism, she said she was interested but wanted to see some of the group's work. I guess she doesn't travel all the way to Istanbul for a performance! That's how we came to be putting this little film together. The quality of the filming could be better because the group did it themselves with little, unprofessional cameras, but we hope she sees its heart and the group's potential. I think there may be light at the end of the tunnel, finally. Nori is getting antsy, and worried that Greta will die of old age before she can give anything to the group. I figure, everything in its own time.