Passing Glances
October 14, 2002
Common Threads Leaves People Talking
Renee Knight - The Lima News (Lima, Ohio)
Many Allen County residents heard their voices through someone else this weekend.
The several hundred people who spent their Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon watching the Common Threads program also heard many other voices found somewhere in the community. And these voices sparked dialogue between a variety of people, something Project Manager Martha MacDonell said she hopes will continue.
"The perspectives of Allen County citizens is a great way to start conversations that matter," MacDonell said after the performance at Veterans Memorial Civic Center ended Sunday afternoon. "When we hear each other talk and realize our differences and also our similarities, we are taking a step upward in the Allen County community."
Allen County Common Threads is a full-length theatre production based on interviews actors conducted over the last couple years. Actors from Sojourn Theatre put the production together and MacDonell said having actors outside the community become the community's voice was an effective way to get people talking about important issues in Allen County.
She said she was impressed with the number of people who went to the performances and with the thought they put into the conversations that followed. About 80 people participated in conversations for a few hours after the performance Saturday and MacDonell encouraged people to join in dialogue after the production ended Sunday.
"We are surprised with how many people in the Allen County community are interested to make it a cohesive community," she said. "To make it not just a fractional community, but to bring it together as a whole."
October 12, 2002
They're Saying What You've Been Thinking
Antelle Haithcock, columnist - The Lima News (Lima, Ohio)
Hi, everybody.
By now most of you have heard of Allen County Common Threads and the actors of Sojourn Theatre. They are a group of people who have been going throughout Allen County preparing a poetic documentary that is based on interviews conducted on issues of differences and history.
Last week I saw a mini-performance by this group, which mainly centered on race. They present the views they've heard as actors, and sometimes it's hard to hear when they share a view they disagree with. But you are a captive audience, so you are forced to listen to someone else's point of view. It may not change your mind, but at least you'll hear another opinion and maybe understand why people feel the way they do.
I've talked about differenced and diversity for so long, I like using the term "common." What do the races and what do we as just people have in common? I probably shouldn't give this away, but two of the girls did a skit on a doctor who performed an autopsy on a white man and a black man and was surprised to find the same-shaped heart in the same place, the same lungs in the same places.
It goes on. You'll have to see it for yourself to get the full impact, but it was very moving. I hope no one needs to be cut up to realize how much we have in common.
Most of the actors were young, and it was a little strange hearing the words of an older man coming out of a 19-year-old. But you got the feeling that he understood what the older gentleman was saying, that he could feel the man's pain, the pain of living with a lifetime of prejudice.
Then you could feel him go through the man's transformation as he decided to give the white man the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe he wasn't prejudiced, maybe he just didn't understand us. That was a moment.
The committee behind Allen County Common Threads is trying to understand and bring to light what we as human beings have in common - not just between the races but between farmers and businessmen, teachers and laborers, wives who work inside the home and wives who work outside the home.
Basically, we all want the same thing: our freedom, which we no longer take for granted; our children to be happy and healthy; and a good job, which we can also no longer take for granted. We all want what everybody wants; because after all we're just people, just common people.
Allen County Common Threads and Sojourn Theatre will present "Passing Glances: Mirrors and Windows in Allen County," a performance of the conversations actors held with the people of Allen County, tonight at 7:30 p.m., and again tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. at Veteran Memorial Civic Center.
You will have a chance to voice your opinion about what you heard. There will be conversations based on questions raised during the performance.
October 11, 2002
A Deep Look into Allen County
Jim Sabin - The Lima News (Lima, OH)
It's hard enough to for a lifelong resident to get to know all aspects of Allen County.
Imagine coming in from the other side of the country and figuring it out in less than two years.
But it turns out, the actors of Sojourn Theatre didn't really have much trouble getting Allen County residents to talk about their feelings.
"I think a lot of people have been wanting to say stuff for a long time," Jono Eiland said.
Eiland and the rest of the theatre company are performing this weekend as part of the Common Threads project. The artists spent countless hours interviewing people and interpreting what they learned into a play of sorts, taking enough artistic license to give everyone a voice without revealing the sources of the opinions.
"It's a way for them to talk about this," Jenn Van Nice said. "I'm just really excited that they're chomping at the bit to get this on stage."
The actors came in from Portland, Ore., four weeks ago to make final preparations and rehearse for this weekend's performances. They've been in Allen County a number of times in the last two years and said they've gotten to know people so well they feel like a part of the community.
"We've seen all of their best sides…in ways that I don't think they see each other," Bobby Bermea said.
Not everyone was willing to open up immediately, of course. Some were worried that Allen County would be portrayed in a bad light if too much came out, Bermea said.
"There were some people who wanted to make sure Lima/Allen County was painted a certain way," he said. "They don't want us to come in and stab them in the back."
And the company needs to be able to emphasize things in order to make the performance a strong one, Sojourn Artistic Director Michael Rohd said.
"I think a documentary always requires a tremendous balancing act between the technical needs and the community needs," Rohd said.
The goal of the show isn't to solve the county's social problems but merely to start conversations, Rohd said.
"We don't presume that the seeing of this show will initiate solutions," he said. The goal of the performance is to give residents a look in the mirror, to show them what is really here, and to provide a window into moving past the problems, he said.
Rohd and his actors said they don't feel pressure performing theatre based on real people but a different kind of pressure than if they were performing a work of fiction.
"I feel like the community has offered us a great opportunity, and with that comes great responsibility," Rohd said. "I hope we did an OK job, with the mirrors and the windows."
Back
|
|
|
