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Community Performance Inc.

May 06, 2008

The final scene in the play here deals with a March. It is a march and a call to action, it is a parallel story of another scene, in Act I, in which the Mill Hill and its people are a victim of urban renewal. The Mill Hill folks are dispersed, and the community is very much lost. Some time later, urban renewal came to another neighborhood, a predominantly black neighborhood. But this neighborhood found a way, even after being displaced, to stay together. Churches came together, along with a café, to hold school classes for kids during the week. They had a center, I think it was a gym, where people came together and played and had fellowship. And some hard things happened. They felt encroached upon again, but instead of dispersing, and instead of resorting to violence, as was happening elsewhere in the US at this time, the community drew up a list of demands and marched it to City Hall. Heather wrote a brilliant, powerful song for this moment.
“We marched in the rain
Our souls drenched in pain
Wondering why, why why,
Should it come to this
And why
So much strife
When we want the same thing
Just a little respect”

Those are some of the words. Yeah, I know. She’s good, as I’ve been telling you.

The woman who was to sing the solo for this song, along with her son, who played a key role in the scene, and her other daughter, dropped from the show yesterday. Their schedules for the rehearsal and their schedules for real life just couldn’t come together. I’m feeling a bit of despair. We found out just about 2 hours before our rehearsal for this big scene was to begin. As 5:00 approached, all the other cast members in the scene showed up, but there was no principals. And nobody to represent the community in the march. We’re together trying to solve this. What was important about this moment, is that no one even suggested that we rewrite it or remove it, or do it some other way. Mary Ann turned to us and said “We have to have this scene, It’s about who we are.” Victoria started asking smart questions like, “If it’s too hard for them to get to rehearsal, can we bring rehearsal to them?” Gas prices here are $3.53 per gallon, and this is a region that has a large population of people right on the line of minimum wage. Tough times all around. Kathy mentioned some people who she just saw in “Seusical” who could do the role, but could not remember their names. Cindy went out to her car and got the program, because her child was in the production, I believe. Everyoen was working together to solve it as Richard and I watched. Then, about 39 minutes into what was supposed to be this rehearsal, in walks Lynetta and Bobby. Bobby is not cast in this scene, but arrived an hour early for his scene, “Ahead of ht Times”. Lynetta got the time wrong for her rehearsal, thought it was at 6:00, it was at 5:00, and she would have been early. Bobby agrees to take the role that was dropped by the other young man. Lynetta reads the role of the woman—she’s 17 but has a much older soul. Spirits in the room are lifted. We have a rehearsal, we have a scene, and we’ve got the beginnings of connections. They both said they were planning on recruiting down in Goose Hollow after their rehearsal. They understand, they need others with them to make the march make sense. So do the other cast members in the scene. They’re all working at different ends to make a solution. This community continues to lift me.

Oh, and by the way, did I mention I had some green tea in an alternative health store that has been there for about 15 years? Shelves stocked with herbs, teas, alternative medicines, and a library with books by Carlos Casteneda, Carolyn Myss, Wayne Dyer, etc.etc. They also have free wireless. And a meditation room. This community continues to lift me. Cool.

   

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