Brasil Blog 4: Breaking the Mould

Wednesday 5th August 2009

Blog Category: Brasil Blog

On the shores of another sea, another potter, in his twilight years, retires. His eyes are cloudy, his hands tremble—the time has come to say goodbye. And then the ceremony of initiation takes place: the old potter offers the young potter his finest piece. That is the tradition of the native peoples of the American Northwest: the artist who is leaving the craft presents his masterwork to the artist who is setting out. But the young potter does not keep that perfect vessel to contemplate and to admire; instead, he smashes it to the ground, breaks it into a thousand pieces, gathers up the shards, and kneads them into his own clay.
Eduardo Galeano translated by Andrew Hurley

Well, sorry that we didn’t manage to keep this blog up quite as we had liked. It got very busy. Tim gave his presentation about Arts and Mental Health, which went down very well indeed. Jez got into some serious drumming and Matt interviewed nearly everyone about the use of TO and it’s future. We have made many new friends and hopefully influenced the future of TO in a positive way. After the conference we were involved in a three-day international practitioner meeting and got the chance to discuss how to stay in contact with each other and how to make sure that we build on the success of TO around the world.

Tim met up with Rosa Luisa Marquez who is Professor of Theatre and Drama at the University of Puerto Rico. He first met her 16 years ago in Rio. It was brilliant to see her again. She told the story that appears at the top of this blog. It is a very beautiful story that helps us to understand how we can both respect the past and build a new future.

Matt spoke to Augusto’s son Julian Boal

Matt: He is a very nice man – very quiet and unassuming.   In the midst of all this talk and noise he was mourning the loss of his father. He told a story at the conference about how a young woman in India had come rushing up to him and said, ‘Your father is like a God to me.’  Julian replied, ‘I am not Jesus Christ.’

Jez: I had a wicked time drumming with theatre-makers from Africa and Brasil, though I could have done with even more music. I had some great food and got to walk along Ipanema beach. How cool is that! We went up the Corcovado, which means hunchback and saw Christ the Redeemer sculpture at the top. It’s very impressive!

Matt: I also spoke to an Israeli theatre maker, part of a group called Combatants for Peace.  This group are made up of ex-Israeli soldiers who collaborate with Palestinians in a non-violent struggle to end Israel’s occupation. He showed a film of the group dismantling a roadblock – actually lifting the stones and driving through it. The army soon arrived, threw smoke bombs and fired rubber bullets..  It made me think of Mind the Gap’s mission to dismantle another kind of barrier – that between disabled and nondisabled artists.  It is inspiring to think of all the ways that people use theatre to fight injustice.  Some are prepared risk their lives in the attempt.

We returned after the conference with many stories to tell. If you want to know more why not contact us at Mind the Gap in the Autumn? From September we are going to be looking at TO with Making Theatre and the Acting Company. It’d be great to hear from you. Tim, Jez and Matt.

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