The Scene of the Crime: Berlin

"Guilty!"

Matthew Power, Garry Williams, Keelin Jack, Zach Faye, Jackie Hanlin, Kim Parkhill, Clara Bullock, Kristi Anderson and Amy Reitsma.

We opened The Halifax Hearings opened on November 11, 2010, at the FEZ-Berlin as part of the programming for Geld Global: Wie bestimmt Geld unsere Welt? (Pictures to follow). Our second performance followed on November 12th. Keelin Jack designed the lighting for this performance, assisted by Jackie Hanlin; musical arrangements and composition by Andrew Chandler.

The play deals with Globalization, seen through the eyes of a 17-year old student, preparing for a class presentation. In a series of scenes, the play examines our propensity, as global inhabitants, to trivialize and ignore the increasingly obvious flaws of the system, including an exclusionary prosperity, rampant consumerism, the ever-present media's tendency towards sensationalism and advertising, as well as the proliferation of ignorance and apathy in a world progressively devoid of a functional, common morality.

"Change?"

Andrew Chandler as The Bum and Jackie Hanlin as the Student

For the FEZ's Opening Ceremonies Nov. 9-12, we performed an excerpt from our show, as well as the Four Directional Song of Doubt for Five Voices, using the global consumer economy as our theme.

At the museum FLUXUS+, we performed for an audience of enthusiastic patrons during Café DaPoPo on Friday night. Gallery owner Heinrich Liman and his guests ordered a smattering of musical treats. Our audience included Garry's mother, visual artist Ann Noël, his sister Penelope and daughter Iris; as well as international artists and performers from Switzerland, Poland, Australia, Israel and the USA.

On the weekend, we sang songs from Nova Scotia, and invited the kids at the FEZ to participate by helping us find German words from around the giant foyer, which we then used to create an improvised musical "Sex-Tangle", a DaPoPo specialty.

Trying the Play and Playing the Trial

On Thursday Oct. 28th - Saturday Oct. 30th, we held three public readings of The Halifax Hearings: Globalization on Trial. The play reads just under an hour, and the story is clear. Our audiences participated in guided, post show Q&A periods, providing useful prods and inroads towards revising and strengthening the script. The two longest scenes, the Court Room Scene and the Post-Now, gave rise to the most specific points of discussion. Regrouping on Saturday afternoon, we were able to identify a few rewriting challenges for the next two weeks.

Depicted here from top to bottom: JOGGER (Kristi Anderson); CHILD JUDGE (Kristi Anderson), RAPPER JUDGE (Keelin Jack), STUDENT (Jackie Hanlin); BUM (Andrew Chandler); PROSECUTION (Clara Bullock), JESUS (Zach Faye) and DEFENSE ATTORNEY (Amy Reitsma). Photos by Trevor Poole.

Hearing the Witnesses: Taking the Stand

JACKIE: What interests me about Globalization is that we have created a monster that is almost beyond our control. We keep pushing ourselves deeper into this thing, and my question is: will we be able to get out of it if we have to? And will we still function? Or will it be total chaos?

KRISTI: Globalization is a bit of a mystery term to me. World-wide trade? Sharing of goods? Capitalism? Combining cultures? In this creation process I strive to understand, explore and discover the intricacies of the term globalization. My curiosity revolves around how globalization manages to bring the world together and simultaneously tear it apart.

ANDREW: I have been actively interested in social justice issues since reading "My Name Is Rachel Corrie" one Christmas Eve several years ago, which left me weeping, exhausted and inspired. An active performer, musician and musical director around Halifax, I have tried to balance my work as a professional actor with activism and social justice work. Several summers ago, I participated in Headlines Theatre's "Theatre for Living" workshop and remain interested in ways of treating political questions using theatre. A great fan of Arundhati Roy, Noam Chomsky and Naomi Klein, I have some great books I can recommend you.

CLARA: I see globalization as potential, temptation in a modern form if you will. Is the problem globalization, or is it what societies have done with it? Is that the result of natural human behaviour and is it inevitable? The politics behind this concept fascinate me and I am thrilled to be studying it in such excellent company.

MATT: To me, Globalization is something of a double-edged sword. In one regard, it is the new way in which the world now functions, it is the collective psyche of the planet interacting amongst itself. It can be used as a powerful tool for the universal growth and development of economy, culture, and knowledge of this world. Conversely, globalization can be seen as the root of much of the world's greed, corruption, and environmental negligence. It is up to us to use the power of globalization to mould the world in the image of prosperity around the globe.

ZACH: My interest in globalization is something that I think we should all share. I simply want to know more and come to a better understanding of the causes and effects of our everyday behavior. The stories of people and places being caught in the destructive wake of globalization are fascinating, tragic and alarming. These are the stories that I want to explore.

KIM: My interest in globalization is socio-anthropo-psycho-philosopho-ethical. Or, in a word, human. What is my role in the perpetuation of a system whose negative byproducts include oppression of other humans? How do I behave, and why? And what of my fellow humans? Are we indoctrinated, well-intended, self-preserving, complicit or naive? Are we, individually, ultimately responsible? What are our options and what will be the tipping point for change?

GARRY: What interests me about Globalization is the cultural aspect. I am not so interested in oil and finance. Perhaps the important question is whether we can develop, adapt or evolve as a species, as co-inhabitants of a rather small planet, to truly embrace the globe with a shared, common language and a cosmopolitan ethos.

Devising A Case: Creating Globalization

The goal: to create a play about Globalization, working with nine creator-performers, aged 17 to 43.

STAGE ONE

Fr., Aug. 27 - Mo., Aug. 30

Below, the DaPoPo Academy Youth Ensemble (DAYE) – Clara Bullock, Jackie Hanlin and Matthew Power – begin the process by discussing Globalization with two of DaPoPo's directors, Kim Parkhill and Garry Williams. What is Globalization? Is there room for morals in Globalization?

For three days in August, the ensemble trains in Suzuki, Viewpoints and Linklater, living and working at Kim's cottage in New Brunswick. The DAYE trio conducts an interview with two local farmers, creates site-specific performances, composes text and commences introductory German studies. Canoeing at dawn provides a meditative highlight, balanced by midnight bonfires. Garry's Mum, Ann Noël, visiting from Germany, provides photo-documentation (see above).

STAGE TWO

Sat., Sept. 4

Focusing on Tourism and Communication, we collect stories, images and experiences. Kim, Zach, Andrew, Matthew, Keelin and Garry commence, armed with notebooks and pencils. We are confined to Kim's work room, locked out of our rehearsal space at Kingsview Academy, presumably due to the impending Hurricane Earl. We drink coffee. The winds pound and rush, trees shatter and split. We lose power. Eat cookies. Continue our work.

We share select literature ("The planet is a living organism!"); anecdotes about travel ("I love to travel!"); newspapers ("Newspapers sell subscriptions!"); television; information flow ("Who do we leave behind?"); corporate fascism ("Corporations can sue governments!"); the Me-Generation ("I ignore my knowledge!"); money ("My mother makes money exchanging currencies!"); comfort/guilt ("My life needs to be comfortable!"); electronic devices ("Do they keep us apart, or bring us together?"); inter-human relationships ("What is good for us?"); edited/created identities ("What is real?"); souvenirs ("Souvenirs should be banned!"); multiculturalism; natural curiosity; and survival.

Sat., Sept. 11

Garry leads physical training in the morning, exploring stretching/dilation, the architecture or geography of the room, weight and balance, shape and repetition, a German lesson and discussion of ideas in the afternoon. In an exercise led by Kim, we each create an image work about a time at which we felt guilty or "right", or innocent. A pattern emerges, pitting groups against individuals, wherein the guilty party cannot always be clearly identified.

Our homework: create text about Globalization – possible an accusation or a defense; song, poem, speech or scene – from the p.o.v. of Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Dr. Seuss, the Average Citizen and Jesus.

Thurs., Sept. 16 - Sat., Sept.20

Thursday

We continue to research and rehearse in spurts, working with whom and where we can – today it's Andrew, Zach, Kim and Garry. Where? The Halifax Commons. We proceed to generate lists, notes, sketches and performances, learning more of what we know, inspired by the Globalization we can observe all around us. Jackie and Clara are able join us in the afternoon.

Friday

After a quick brainstorming session, Zach, Kim and Garry able to adopt some useful parameters to propose to the group, fruitful limitations for our continued creation:

1) We have agreed upon a central character, tentatively called Mr. or Mrs. Citizen.

2) The pre-trial unfolds inside our protagonist's head, as an absurd hearing of internal voices.

3) A possible setting presents itself: a futuristic subterranean biosphere.

Kim, Kristi and Garry are among the few who see Cool It!, Ondi Timoner's documentary film about controversial activist Bjørn Lomborg, at the Oxford movie theatre.

Saturday

Group work, 80% of our cast. We begin by manipulating chairs, the rehearsal space and our bodies to describe globalization in movement and metaphor; we graduate into a stream-of-consciousness expression of voices within our heads, generating (sometimes troubling) one-person conversations, and impromptu, fractured monologues about globalization. We find the defense of our life styles comes hardest, while the voices of accusation are clear and strong.

Thurs. 23 - Sat. 25

Our 40+ page booklet of pre-writing in hand, we focus on the defense without really knowing the accused or the charges. Trying to separate the notion of free market capitalism from globalization, we discuss scientific progress, national and international justice as well as immigration/emigration, speculating on benefits for the mass of humanity in terms of the quality of life, liberty and happiness, paraphrasing our charter of rights. Our heads hurt. We create an ensemble-generated list of compelling show ingredients, define globalization eight times and take turns leading exercises, during which we try out some ideas for shapes, staging, images and text: gestural repetition (Kim); a textual/rhythmic crescendo and acceleration (Zach); different languages than English (Garry); image-based text animation (Droodles); a game (Kim); and an act of kindness (Zach).

STAGE THREE

Thurs. Sept. 29 - Sat. Oct. 16

As the form of our piece begins to emerge through a series of guided improvisations, we set ourselves new tasks, begin to see symmetries, patterns and moments of the divinely absurd. Without a script, the usual fears surface: will there be a show? Will there be a script? Will the performances be improvised? What are we ultimately saying about Globalization?

Currently, a Student, our protagonist, confused, overwhelmed and/or disinterested in Globalization, is transported out of her ordinary world of fast food, cel phones and emergencies, into a strange pre-trail hearing, overseen by an incompetent series of historical characters and unlikely candidates. Adam Smith, Charles Darwin, Christopher Columbus and Jesus Christ all bear witness for, and/or against, the Big G-Word, during which time it is trying to be determined whether or not there is a case against Globalization.

We are also exploring the Student's relationship with a homeless person, a drop-out or shut-out from our prosperous global society, a bum in turn belligerent and wise, who brings out the worst in our protagonist. She must, furthermore, face the possibility of a grim future, the Post Now, in which the few are kept alive in a controlled biosphere, living under a new Manifesto of We. The Post Now is a conglomerate of our expectations and fears for the future: total destruction, man-against-man, if not for a forced, or necessary change.

Evidence for the Prosecution: Poetry, Prophecy and Polemics

How quickly nature falls into revolt

When gold becomes her object!

For this the foolish over-careful fathers

Have broke their sleep with thoughts, their brains with cares

Their bones with industry;

For this they have engrossed and piled up

The canker'd heaps of strange-achieved gold;

For this they have been thoughtful to invest

Their sons with arts and martial exercises;

When, like the bee, culling from every flower

The virtuous sweets,

Our thighs packed with wax, our mouths with honey,

We bring it to the hive, and, like the bees,

Are murdered for our pains.

– William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2

Hörst du das Neue, Herr,
dröhnen und beben?
Kommen Verkündiger,
die es erheben.

Zwar ist kein Hören heil
in dem Durchtobtsein,
doch der Maschinenteil
will jetzt gelobt sein.

Sieh, die Maschine:
wie sie sich wälzt und rächt
und uns entstellt und schwächt.

Hat sie aus uns auch Kraft,
sie, ohne Leidenschaft,
treibe und diene.

– Rainer Maria Rilke, Sonette an Orpheus

Stretch a bow to the full, and you'll end up wishing you had stopped in time; to hold and fill to overflowing isn't quite as able as to stop in time.

Temper a sword-edge to its very sharpest, and you'll find it soon grows dull.

When gold and jade fills your hall, can it be well guarded any more?

To be proud with things and glory given, could bring ruin. Wealth and place breed insolence and could slowly harm and ruin:

If your work is done, withdraw!

That is heaven's way. It can be opposed to lots of ways of man.

– Tao Te Ching

At the risk of sounding ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love. Perhaps it is one of the great dramas of the leader that he or she must combine a passionate spirit with a cold intelligence and make painful decisions without flinching. Our vanguard revolutionaries must idealize this love of the people, of the most sacred causes, and make it one and indivisible. They cannot descend, with small doses of daily affection, to the level where ordinary people put their love into practice.

The leaders of the revolution have children just beginning to talk, who are not learning to say "daddy"; their wives, too, must be part of the general sacrifice of their lives in order to take the revolution to its destiny. (…)

In these circumstances one must have a large dose of humanity, a large dose of a sense of justice and truth in order to avoid dogmatic extremes, cold scholasticism, or an isolation from the masses. We must strive every day so that this love of living humanity is transformed into actual deeds, into acts that serve as examples, as a moving force.

If one's revolutionary zeal is blunted when the most urgent tasks have been accomplished on a local scale and one forgets about the proletarian internationalism, the revolution one leads will cease to be a driving force and sink into a comfortable drowsiness that imperialism, our irreconcilable enemy, will utilize to gain ground. Proletarian internationalism is a duty, but it is also a revolutionary necessity. This is the way to educate our people.

– Che Guevara, Socialism and Man in Cuba