Is There Greasepaint in the
Desert?
Here are three articles related to community theatre which I wrote over the past few years. "Is There Greasepaint in the Desert?" was published in the THEATRE ARTS QUARTERLY in Brussels, "To make the magic happen" in WINDMILLS Magazine in The Hague and "(Prospective)Actors Unite" in THE YEMEN TIMES in Sana'a.
I also wrote an article about Alice Andico (now performing as Alyss), a Filipino singer in the Netherlands, entitled "New challenge for 'singing sensation", which was published in MUNTING NAYON magazine.
Is There Greasepaint in the
Desert?
Theatre's Not Easy In Yemen
Involved in Brussels' flourishing community theatre 1992-94, acting and singing addict Dirk Marks relocated to Sana'a, a war-torn capital with virtually no theatrical activities. As an active member of the American Theatre Company and the Brussels Light Opera Company, I rapidly progressed from the chorus to intermediate and leading roles in musicals and plays. The proverbial smell of the greasepaint, glare of the lights and the sounds of the applause had caught me. If I couldn't be on stage, I helped out with productions. Properties master, soundman, front-of-house or bar duty at Café Theatre - I would do anything just to be involved. When I moved to Yemen in January 1995, I discovered the local drama society had fallen apart during the civil war and most of its members had left. I met an American who planned to produce "Guys & Dolls" on the Sana'a stage. What stage? In a city without a theatre, I wondered where he would carry out this ambitious plan. A few days later I visited what had been the cultural centre for Sana'a's expatriates . An ill-furnished community hall in the building of an American oil company, it had a lighting/sound booth but no equipment. The small stage had no backstage facilities. My spirits were lifted when I discovered a five-star hotel with excellent though small stage facilities in its restaurant: a perfect setting for a dinner theatre show. The American producer/director planned auditions before the summer vacation, rehearsals starting in September, and curtains up in November. He had stagehands, a stage manager, a costume manager, a set designer - but no musical director. I got a vocal score and CD, and started preparing myself for the role of Sky Masterson.
Waiting for auditions
The summer vacation came and went, with no news of auditions. The producer needed a script; I managed to get him one. I'm still waiting for auditions to be called. To compensate for the missing greasepaint and bright lights, I set up a play reading group that meets once a month to read one or two short plays. It's brought together a dozen or so people who share my love for the theatre. Maybe it will grow into a new theatrical society. Meanwhile, I started singing in the five-star hotel with a Filipino band I had befriended; my repertoire included "You'll never walk alone" and "Copacabana" - not exactly musical theatre, but better than nothing. Battling a faltering sound system, I did two Al Jolson medleys for 400 people at the International Women's Group's bazaar. Shortly thereafter I sang a solo at the Sana'a Singers' Christmas concert. And guess what? Strangers walked up to me and told me how much they had enjoyed the show.
It was
July, 1996. Shortly after I arrived in Holland, I got in touch
with the Anglo American Theatre Group. I had known the AATG from
the time that I lived in Brussels. I was a member of the American
Theatre Company there and I was introduced to the AATG at the
Festival of European Anglophone Theatrical Societies (FEATS)
where we performed. The festival was held in Luxemburg at the
time and our FEATS entry won first prize.
Who would have thought that only a few years later, May 1997, I
would be back in Brussels, this time rooting for the AATG entry?
And with the AATG winning first prize this time!
Theatre has been my passion for many years now. It all started
way back in Africa, in the early 1980's, when I was working in
Tanzania. The country was a poor, developing nation with few
commodities available and long waiting-lines at stores with some
goods on their shelves. One day I heard about the local theatre
group performing "West Side Story" in their
"Little Theatre". I couldn't believe my eyes and ears!
Here we were, in the middle of nowhere, and this group of
amateurs conjured up a whirling spectacle full of enchantment. It
was a new and magical world that I discovered that night and it
was easily decided that I would join this group of hardworking,
dedicated people that made the magic-on-stage happen.
At first, I was active backstage, behind the scenes. Then
eventually I was talked into auditioning for the annual Christmas
pantomime, and what a great way to take your first steps onto the
stage!
From that moment I was hitched by the smell of the greasepaint,
the glare of the lights and the sound of the applause! So
when I got the opportunity to appear in the musical comedy
"The King & I", it was not difficult to decide.....
Alas though, the time came to leave Tanzania and I was
transferred to New York. A theatre-lover's heaven, but no
opportunities to get on stage (who needs another amateur actor
there?) so I spent my time seeing an abundance of
professional and community theatre productions.
After New York I went to Tokyo, and again there were no
opportunities to get onto the stage.
When I moved to Brussels, I was overjoyed to find a very large
expatriate community and a plethora of English language theatre
groups.
And it just got bigger and bigger. From a small chorus part in
"South Pacific", through a double role in
"Carousel" I got to play leading roles in the comedy
"The Nerd" and the musical comedy "Anything
Goes".
AND I was able to do the occasional backstage work as well. I
spent most of my spare time being involved in one production or
another.
A short tour of duty in the Middle East left me theatreless
again.....
There just weren't enough actors (nor audiences) to produce plays
on stage. So I decided to do the next best thing: I started a play reading group. I got together about a dozen people once a
month, and we would read a short one-act play for the enjoyment
of all present.
So, when I arrived in Holland in July 1996, I was ready for some
more active involvement. I called the AATG, joined them in
August, auditioned for the fall production later that month, got
cast, started rehearsing in September and was on stage in
"Ah, sweet mystery of life" in October!
I have been in two other AATG productions this past season, which
only goes to show how actively involved you can get with the AATG
- if you want to.
Not only is it very rewarding to hear the applause after a
performance, it is also great to be involved with a group of
people that is every little bit as hardworking and dedicated as
the people that made the magic-on-stage happen way back in
Tanzania, where I discovered amateur theatre.
Since the disintegration of the Sana'a Amateur Musical Society in 1994, the expatriate community in Yemen had been without any means to express their theatrical talents. Until a couple of months ago, at least, because last November a group of people got together to form the Sana'a Play reading Group.
The group
offers an opportunity to people who are interested in the theatre
to express their (hidden) talents by reading a short play
together.
Members of the group hail
from a variety of nationalities and age groups, but they all have
one thing in common: a love for the theatre!
The Play reading Group meets once a month (usually on the third Tuesday) in the Sheraton Hotel. Depending on members' schedules, participation can be anything from 4 to 12 participants. Each time, a play is chosen to accommodate the composition of the group. The play is introduced, characters assigned, each "reader" prepares his or her rôle, and finally the play is read. Whoever has no part (or doesn't feel like reading) listens to the others "act" out their part.
So far,
plays by a variety of British and American playwrights have been
read: Fay Ehlert, Tad Mosel, Susan Glaspell, Craig Lucas,
Christopher Durang and Renée Taylor & Joseph Bologna.
Gatherings of the Play reading Group are very informal. There are no prerequisites
for participation, except perhaps knowledge of the English
language! And although some participants have previous stage
exposure, others have joined the group without any experience at
all. The most important thing for every participant is: to enjoy
themselves!
There is no membership fee for being part of the Sana'a Play reading Group. Whoever participates at a reading just pays a small fee for coffee, tea, water and pastries.
The Sana'a Play reading Group welcomes new participants. The next meetings will be on May 14th (not May 21st as was previously announced) and June 18th. You may call if you'd like more information.