Last night, we explored through a series of workshop exercises, the reality of Romania during 1989 and what it might have been like living in an oppressive environment with a society ripe for change and revolution. Afterwhich, I went home and as I sat down with my family for dinner/supper, news of demonstrations in Myanmar flashed across the television screen. I found myself riveted at images of monks and protestors marching, all hoping for change. The news commentator warned of possible reprisals from the military government. I found myself drawing correlations between the protests in Myanmar and the world of revolutionary Romania. The reasons for change are similar and the reaction of authorities also mirror revolutions from history. With so many similarities, I thought about the different individuals who are caught up in the protests in Myanmar now and wondered if the characters that I play in Mad Forest are somehow among the protestors currently on the streets. The specifics or country, race, religion, culture, etc. might not be there, but as humans, our reactions would probably be the same.
My contemplations then went back to an exercise that we did. In the exercise, we took to the streets of Little India (specifically Buffalo Road) and under the curious gaze of tourists and passersby, I discovered that I (and my character) could do almost anything for self preservation - including getting someone else into trouble. With that knowledge, how then would I react when I see thousands of people on the streets, marching for change? Would self preservation overcome the desire for change? What would it take to join those lines of people? The exploration continues...
And as my dinner/supper came to an end, I had a thought of how far removed my reality is from that of Myanmar or Romania. The exploration continues indeed...
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