Good morning.
This morning I am prompted to write a little bit about ritual and theatre because of a conversation I had with my daughter Grace yesterday as we were walking the dog! Bit of a tenuous link maybe, but I am always curious about what things come into my mind at any time, and the natural desire I usually feel to investigate the connections!
I was telling Grace about how I had left my bank card at a friend's the other day, which left me stranded with £5 in coins in my purse last Friday! I had forgotten this as I went into buy some things in Tesco (I particularly need some shampoo!) and happily filled up my basket to arrive at the till and suddenly remember that I had no means of paying other than the coins in my purse! So I dutifully returned all the things to the appropriate shelves, and worked out what I really wanted to buy and what was possible with £5! (The shampoo I had picked up without a second thought was itself 3.95!). This was not something I can remember experiencing before and yet I know its the reality for many people on a daily basis. That's a bit humbling. Amazingly I did manage to find some rather nice smelling coconut shampoo for 99 pence, and some bread and milk and the bill came to £4.93! It did require a considerable amount more thinking of course, but it also pointed out to me just how oblivious I am generally about what I put in my basket and what I think I need!
So it was in remarking on this experience to Grace that I found myself recalling the chance meeting I had a couple of weeks ago at Abbotswick with two young Franciscan Friars. Abbotswick is a retreat house run by the sisters of Our Lady Of Walsingham. I go there from time to time to have a break from the cut and thrust of leading Arc. Although its run by Catholic nuns, its a sanctuary and a space of respite open to people of all faiths or no faith. Its a deeply relaxing space to step into, set in beautiful grounds near Brentwood in Essex. Its a place largely of silence and reflection, where there is no pressure to be or do anything. No one asks you questions, nor expects you to ask them any either. Its a good place to be and think and to step outside the normal demands of daily life.
Everyone goes about their own business there, and sometimes perhaps you might bump into someone else in the kitchen at meal time. It was over lunch (some lovely fish cakes - well it was Friday!) that I got to meet Brother Oshiem and Brother Angelo, both young men in their early thirties, attired in their friar's robes, rosaries around their waists and sandles. I had never spoken to a monk before, and I was intrigued to do so! They live and work at St Fidelis Friary in Canning Town, just a couple of stops from Arc on the District line where the group of five brothers run a drop in soup kitchen and work in the community.
I wasn't sure at first if I could speak freely to these 'holy' men - but very soon realised that these were simply two lovely and very funny people! It was brilliant to talk to them, and no subject was barred. I was curious to know how and why they got to be where they are and they were both happy to share their stories which were funny, moving and powerful. But the thing I was most curious about was how they cope with the vows they have taken, indeed which they were renewing the next day. Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. Pretty tall order in anyone's book. Interestingly for Brother Oshiem it was obedience that was the toughest call. But we got to talking a great deal about poverty and the ownership of and attachment to 'things'.
Brother Angelo, who is American made me roar with laughter as he told me about his struggle to let go of his attachment to his faithful old football! A couple of months ago Angelo's football had finally given up the ghost and he had to admit this and throw it away! He knew that he could never own another football himself and that was hard as he loves playing with the other Friars and local kids in Canning Town. Much to his delight, the next day a parcel arrived for him from Brother Oshiem's sister, and lo and behold it was a new football. Angelo grinned as he told me that of course it must belong to everyone, and then sheepishly added that he actually 'looked after' it in his room!
They also gave me a new insight into the beggar. I naively asked about how they source the food for the kitchen, and Brother Angelo said they beg every day for it. They never buy food for themselves or those they feed daily, which can be as many as 40. For them the begging thing is no big deal, its just what they do. They go to the street market at the end of the day, or to the supermarket and there is aways food in abundance. They also have supporters who drop in stuff when they can. I was impressed by the matter of fact way these guys live their lives and faith. And actually the freedom they have.
We got to talking about what I do, and this led us to debate the connection between religion and theatre, a subject very close to my heart, and which I will develop more fully in a future blog. Suffice it to say the conversation centred on the nature of ritual, the coming together of people in a shared space to experience something together that touches the heart and soul.
We know as theatre makers the extraordinary heights of creating work and then sharing it with an audience. It is a kind of communion with its own rules, many of which come down through history from religious ceremony. The sacred and the secular are much more firmly linked then some are comfortable with. But I know from my own experience in the rehearsal room and in the theatre performance, that there is something very precious and special in the art form that moves people to another imaginal space for its duration.
My education in theatre at Exeter University was steeped in work that explored this connection, Antonin Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty, Peter Brook's Empty Space, Eugenia Barba, Grotowski, Joe Chaikin, Richard Schechner, Mercia Eliade, Alan Watts, shamanism and the great canon of the Greeks and much more!
But that's enough on this for now probably. I will pick this subject up again in the next few days.
Have a good Sunday!
This morning I am prompted to write a little bit about ritual and theatre because of a conversation I had with my daughter Grace yesterday as we were walking the dog! Bit of a tenuous link maybe, but I am always curious about what things come into my mind at any time, and the natural desire I usually feel to investigate the connections!
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| Abbottswick |
So it was in remarking on this experience to Grace that I found myself recalling the chance meeting I had a couple of weeks ago at Abbotswick with two young Franciscan Friars. Abbotswick is a retreat house run by the sisters of Our Lady Of Walsingham. I go there from time to time to have a break from the cut and thrust of leading Arc. Although its run by Catholic nuns, its a sanctuary and a space of respite open to people of all faiths or no faith. Its a deeply relaxing space to step into, set in beautiful grounds near Brentwood in Essex. Its a place largely of silence and reflection, where there is no pressure to be or do anything. No one asks you questions, nor expects you to ask them any either. Its a good place to be and think and to step outside the normal demands of daily life.
Everyone goes about their own business there, and sometimes perhaps you might bump into someone else in the kitchen at meal time. It was over lunch (some lovely fish cakes - well it was Friday!) that I got to meet Brother Oshiem and Brother Angelo, both young men in their early thirties, attired in their friar's robes, rosaries around their waists and sandles. I had never spoken to a monk before, and I was intrigued to do so! They live and work at St Fidelis Friary in Canning Town, just a couple of stops from Arc on the District line where the group of five brothers run a drop in soup kitchen and work in the community.
I wasn't sure at first if I could speak freely to these 'holy' men - but very soon realised that these were simply two lovely and very funny people! It was brilliant to talk to them, and no subject was barred. I was curious to know how and why they got to be where they are and they were both happy to share their stories which were funny, moving and powerful. But the thing I was most curious about was how they cope with the vows they have taken, indeed which they were renewing the next day. Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. Pretty tall order in anyone's book. Interestingly for Brother Oshiem it was obedience that was the toughest call. But we got to talking a great deal about poverty and the ownership of and attachment to 'things'.
 |
| St Fidelis Friary Canning Town |
Brother Angelo, who is American made me roar with laughter as he told me about his struggle to let go of his attachment to his faithful old football! A couple of months ago Angelo's football had finally given up the ghost and he had to admit this and throw it away! He knew that he could never own another football himself and that was hard as he loves playing with the other Friars and local kids in Canning Town. Much to his delight, the next day a parcel arrived for him from Brother Oshiem's sister, and lo and behold it was a new football. Angelo grinned as he told me that of course it must belong to everyone, and then sheepishly added that he actually 'looked after' it in his room!
They also gave me a new insight into the beggar. I naively asked about how they source the food for the kitchen, and Brother Angelo said they beg every day for it. They never buy food for themselves or those they feed daily, which can be as many as 40. For them the begging thing is no big deal, its just what they do. They go to the street market at the end of the day, or to the supermarket and there is aways food in abundance. They also have supporters who drop in stuff when they can. I was impressed by the matter of fact way these guys live their lives and faith. And actually the freedom they have.
 |
| Paines Plough |
My education in theatre at Exeter University was steeped in work that explored this connection, Antonin Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty, Peter Brook's Empty Space, Eugenia Barba, Grotowski, Joe Chaikin, Richard Schechner, Mercia Eliade, Alan Watts, shamanism and the great canon of the Greeks and much more!
But that's enough on this for now probably. I will pick this subject up again in the next few days.
Have a good Sunday!
1 comment:
Thank you for this. There is an 'aha' about the bag lady experience. She can't even think about 99p shampoo, but there could be a half-eaten cheese roll in the trash can. So no, a politician living in a council flat for a week does not compute.
The monk's tale touches my heart. It takes so much more than is given to most of us to be the kind of beggar that they are. Perhaps in another life the struggle will turn to serenity.
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