THE 20TH OF NOVEMBER
An Interview with Sina Gilani
DB How do you feel about taking on this challenging role?
SG I do have to admit though, that having
been cast in this part has rather challenged my trajectory of how I
envisioned the course of my career to be. It has been a dream to work with
Brendan Healy under any capacity, but I did not imagine that it would happen so
soon. I am continuing my education at YorkU (MA Performance studies),
potentially touring In Case of Nothing (a play I had written which was part of
the SummerWorks Festival 2015), and I am currently writing a new play Field of
Reeds. These are my foreseeable plans, but I suppose I have to wait and see
what the future brings.
And writing poems.
DB How does a performer get into the intense
psychological space that enables them to present such a powerful and at times
terrifying monologue like this? What is your process?
SG Well… although for me, acing is craft and a
technique, every play and character demands a different approach. This is a very difficult question to
answer, and I’m not sure I can answer it in a way that would clarify any
methodology or a formula. Truth is, it does take the rehearsal process to try
things, to attempt many times to find a connection, a way in, to
find/present/portray/be the character. I think I approach my characters without
judgement, and with as much of an open heart and mind as I can manage to find…
It is a difficult question to answer,
because the process or the character is not in my head in a way that I can talk
about him in sentences, I could describe the rehearsal days in detail but that
would not clarify what I would hope to communicate; I think the character has
written itself and made its impression on my body and soul more than on parts
of me that could find an expression in this form of question an answer … the
answer to this question would be my performance of the character. It is a taxing play, with difficult subject
matters that are being explored, but I am not in it alone; every member of the
ensemble that I have had the honor and pleasure of working with has helped to
get to the core of the play, the situation, and the character, and to allow for
a theatricality, and a truth about the human experience to (hopefully)
transpire. To sum up, I would add: with love, courage,
trust, and a desire for a clarity or a manifestation of beauty or truth (even
if hard to take in, grasp, or face) and the help of other artists involved with
the project.
DB What was your first experience of this
script and your response?
SG I was terrified, but I understood the
character. I understood his pain, I did not (and do not) agree with his
resolution, but I wanted to play him. I saw his humanity, and I have been
trying to get to that place ever since.
DB How has Brendan Healy approached the
rehearsal process and how has it helped you to inhabit the role?
SG Brenden is a generous genius. He, I find, is devoted to honest
exploration, and as a result is not afraid to truly investigate truth. It has been a privilege really to have
spent this time with him… I am not an experienced actor, but Brendan has
mentored me patiently, as much as he has directed me vigorously, while leaving
room for me to participate as an artist: to have my perspective heard and
become the part of the character and the play. I am grateful. I would have to
say, I am not sure if I would have accepted this part if it was not under the
direction of Brendan Healy, nor do I believe I could have found the things I
have found during the process, to be able to perform it. Working on this
project, this character, with Brendan has stretched my mind, my heart, and my
soul in ways that I did not anticipate.
DB What are some of your views of this kind of
systemic gun violence that is so widespread globally, particularly in the U.S.
where this monologue is set?
SG I am against violence in almost all forms
of it (bullying, war, terrorism, etc.), but as to my views surrounding citizens
access and rights to gun ownership, I will say, that for me the issue at its
core is not the legal statues of the matter. The root is violence, the cause is
disputes over justice and fairness, guns are merely the tools. There are many interesting debates on the
subject, but I believe somehow they overshadow addressing the problem in
other ways that it needs to be studied and considered in addition: subjects
like education, tolerance, race, modernity, society, etc.
DB What do you think, and hope, that the
audience can take away form the experience of this play? There is such a bleak
quality to he character’s discourse. Are there ways in which you feel this can
enlighten and lead to a positive understanding of the very tragic events
alluded to throughout the script?
SG I can only address this question in my
capacity of the performer, I’m sure every other member of the artistic team
would add to this in their way. The piece is for the audience, it is for
them to have a wide range of thoughts and emotions and for them to deal with
them in ways that they need to, and take away from it what they will. My hope however, is that the play inspires
discussions about the root causes of violence, our approach to education (and
the serious mal-funding of it), and democracy: what it means to be a minority,
to be the other, and what are the responsibilities of the majority and
government to understand and uphold the rights of minorities. Democracy should
not be, I don’t think, the “other”ing or the subjection (normalization) of the
minority, but instead respecting the right of the “other” to remain queer.
It is true that the character and the play
is heavy, challenging, and dark, yet I think, art inspires debates and
conversations about its context and its subject, both; that is how art
transpires and brings about change. I wish for this production to do the same.
The hope and the silver lining of this tragedy, is in the production and in the
performing of it, and what it might manage to inspire.
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BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE
THE 20TH OF NOVEMBER
RUNNING SEPTEMBER 12 - OCTOBER 4
Michael Moore: “If you were to talk directly to the kids at Columbine, what would you say to them?”
Marilyn Manson: “I wouldn’t say a single word to them. I would listen.”
— Bowling for Columbine, 2002
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FROM BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE WEBSITE
A
young man stands before you. Soon, he will go to his school to kill as
many people as he can, including himself. But before he commits this
act, he is going to tell you why. One of Europe’s most prolific and
provocative playwrights, Lars Noren, dares us listen to the very things
we try to ignore.
The 20th of November is a searing indictment of
the complacency of contemporary life, and a howl of anger for the
outcast and oppressed. With text largely taken from the video diaries
and blog of an actual German school shooter, acclaimed Swedish
playwright Lars Noren creates a character that is at once sympathetic
and horrifying. He insists that we bear witness to the rage and torment
of a young man who feels dispossessed and alienated. It is a play that
questions whether an act of senseless violence can be the seeds for a
new form of revolution. It shows us what happens to the truth when a mad
man speaks it.
Lars Noren has been one of Europe’s most prolific and controversial
writers since rising to international notoriety with his 1982 play Night is the Mother of Day.
Known for his aggressive dialogue and vivid portrayals of tyranny,
anger, and pain, the 71-year-old Swedish playwright is widely regarded
as being at the vanguard of the theatrical form.
This production marks
the professional English language premiere of The 20th of November,
in a new translation by Toronto-based writer and actor Gord Rand and
featuring a performance from one of Canada’s most exciting new
theatrical voices, Sina Gilani.
