Hilari's blog

May 11, 2005 - Los Angeles

After a 20-hour travel day on Monday, I am back in Los Angeles among palm trees and sunshine. I return to my life changed by this experience. Traveling always reawakens my sense of the present, and I notice new stores and people in my neighborhood - or perhaps am taking notice of them for the first time. I joke with cashiers and security people rather than ignore them in my hurry to finish whatever it is I think I need to accomplish. I enjoy the slower pace and find I am accomplishing more in a few hours than I remember. Or maybe it is just the intense jet lag that has restored me to being a fully functioning morning person.

I return to emails from several of the cast members recounting our time together. Notes of thanks and insights, and one girl's request for a cute boy's email address. I'm glad to see that crushes remain an international occurrence. This trip has been a success, even if nothing further happens. Thirty young people who have never met came together to create something special for a day, forever connecting them by the experience.

I have pages behind my journal of all the things I would have done differently, notes to myself of what I can improve upon for next time, from contacting the media before we arrive in a location to wearing cuter outfits if I'm going to be on camera.

It was a great coincidence that last night was a farewell roast to Thom MacNamara. After serving as the executive director at the Celtic Arts Center in Los Angeles, Thom is stepping down as Stuirhor (Irish name for leader). Thom has helped the Young Players Ensemble build a bridge in Los Angeles to the Irish community here and abroad, for which I shall be forever grateful. His collaboration on the Northern Ireland Pen Pal Project at the Celtic Arts Center helped pave the way for our present work in Northern Ireland. We toasted, roasted and wished him well at Ken O'Malley's home filled with music, grilled food (it IS southern California after all) and good cheer.

Thank you all for following along on our adventure. I am not sure what the future pages will hold as I spend the next few months editing the work we just completed in Northern Ireland, follow up on leads and write thank you notes to countless supporters, but I am sure that a new adventure is just around the corner.

For those of you who asked for the snail joke told by the shy little girl at the audition in Derry, here it is. Enjoy, and good wishes to all.

One Christmas Eve, a family was at home trimming their tree when the doorbell rang. The father opened the door, but no one was there. He looked up at the doorbell and found a snail there. He picked the snail off the doorbell, put him down on the ground and closed the door.

The following year on Christmas Eve the doorbell rang once more. The father came to the door and again found no one there. He looked up at the doorbell and found the same snail there as the year before. The snail looked up at the father and asked, "What did you do that for?"

Saturday, May 7, 2005 - Derry

Collaboration Day. Up at 5:30 AM planning out the last of the details of our final workshop. Eleven young people gathered in the lobby of the Farset International Hotel at 7:15 AM in Belfast to be driven by minibus to Derry. They were tired, excited and a bit nervous. I interviewed the parents outside in the cold morning air. They were a little reluctant to appear on camera so early in the morning at first, but found it easy to talk about their kids and their eagerness to participate in the day's activities. We all climbed into the beast of the minibus for our 90-minute ride to Derry. I tried to make the drive productive by asking them to come up with a traditional Irish song that they all knew which they could sing at the workshop. They poo-pooed that idea in favor of American pop music. I had to laugh when they launched into Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" at full volume as we chugged along past sheep and rolling green hills. Yes, we have that on tape. Our monster minibus ate through petrol at an alarming speed, forcing us to stop for some overpriced petrol (over $4.00 per gallon) and of course, sugary snacks for the kids. We arrived in Derry at half nine, driving the wrong way on Magazine Street in order to park at the Nerve Centre. I am sure there is another way to approach the Centre down the narrow one-way street, but it would've taken a good part of the morning trying to figure it out. Our faithful tech assistant Ruairi had the door open for us and opened up the upstairs theatre. I would've guessed that there was a ceili (Irish dancing) or something festive the previous evening, since the theatre space smelled like a stale brewery. There was a dimly lit large open space and a high proscenium stage. The kids made their way upstairs and as if on cue stood in three distinct groups clear across the space from one another. Lloyd, the outspoken young actor from Belfast, made note of the predictably stereotypical physical gap by reenacting the cross-community work most have been immersed in most of their lives. "See how the Catholics and Protestants stand so far apart from one another. Oh, they are wary. But then they work together to find that they are not so different after all. Hugging and tears ensue, and they all become friends forever more. The end." It broke the tension as all the kids laughed as they recognized what so many groups have come to do before. Unfortunately our situation was not as clear cut since there was so much diversity among us: kids of one religion living in the neighborhood/going to school among a different religion; kids growing up with parents of two different religions; and those who chose to be a religion other than Catholic or Protestant. All of our theatre groups were mixed without clear religious boundaries, making the work of the day all the more interesting. Several cast members didn't show from each of our three groups, making everyone nervous that they would have to perform their sketches with major cast members missing. I was disappointed in some of the no-shows, only having spoken with them the following evening to confirm their participation. We continued on, but the Waterside kids were freaking out that some of their "star players" who were older with more experience were missing. They were afraid that their sketch would completely fall apart and that they would make fools of themselves. I reassured everyone that the playing ground was even and to put aside their worries for the moment.

We began the workshop with some ice-breakers - finding common ground among the group. I started with an exercise to illuminate similarities, physically joining those with a common trait such as being a dog owner, the oldest child or having their arm in a cast. I duly noted that the last group consisted entirely of girls. Conner from Derry was the only one in the group who had never been in an airplane, immediately winning the group's sympathy.

We then went to our picture montage that began as a little static and disjointed but improved with every round. After the group seemed fairly comfortable with one another and they could trust that they could perform their sketch without being judged too harshly, I broke them up into their three groups to rehearse the sketch they developed during our workshops. Each cast had to make adjustments to work around the missing cast members. The Derry Playhouse cast added a whole new segment for their sketch entitled,"What Are You Afraid Of?" Ashling stood in for the missing Myra as the character "Faceless" as the Waterside group bravely reworked their entire "One Night in Belfast" sketch about a birthday party in a pub that escalates into a fatal brawl.

Not only did the sketches go beautifully, but were received by the other two casts with enthusiastic cheers, applause and whistles. You could see everyone glowing even though they quickly ran off the stage after their work as if staying one more moment might jinx their good fortune.

A man asking us if there was someone here named Swank interrupted us. "Phone call for Swank. Is there someone named Swank here?" I could only guess it might be for me. "Could they mean Hilari?" "That's it. Hilary Swank." Close enough. It was Myra on the phone in tears apologizing for oversleeping, asking if she could still join the workshop. She arrived a half-hour later in ruby red eye shadow to applause and open arms.

Myra joined in our discussion about the sketches. Everyone said that although they were nervous, many things went much better than expected, as they used their adrenaline to create some interesting things in the moment that were unplanned. We went around as everyone complimented each other's work, expressing in detail what they liked about each sketch. When asked if there was anything offensive in any of the sketches, Brendan mentioned that he was uncomfortable when the confused old man in "The Derry Bridge" sketch jumped off the bridge because he couldn't decide whether to go Bogside or Cityside. It was intended to be a comical moment, but Brendan told the group that many people have committed suicide by jumping off the Craigen Bridge in Derry. A good friend of his had jumped only weeks before, and Brendan was still shaken by that experience. The Belfast group quickly apologized, having no idea that this was an issue in their community.

We launched into an impassioned discussion about young people taking on their parents' beliefs. Many kids said that religion and politics were not discussed in their homes, and that they had formed their beliefs on their own. Those who have done cross-community work were the most outspoken about insisting that young people form their own ideas rather than following blindly in their parents' footsteps. We ended on a positive note as most of the group felt that young people were on a very positive path for the future.

We took a short lunch break then performed some improvisations including a sketch about everyone talking on their cell phones with their varied songs, beeps and lights, and then several kids doing their best Hilari and Eric imitations. They mocked my exuberant encouragement and enthusiasm and Eric getting in everyone's faces with the camera. A good laugh. We ran through several more improv games to gear them up for our finale: telling several concise stories encapsulating their essence of their experiences, their points of view and their present state of minds. It was a joy to watch their imaginations take flight with scenes involving talking rakes, flying carpets and plenty of fish. Many of their sketches ended with people killing each other, and when asked to incorporate work they did in their workshops the past three weeks some went immediately to sectarian issues. They later admitted that the religious divide is dramatically easy, since they have been immersed in conflict-resolution and cross community work since birth. We were able to sum up as a group that they want to move past these issues even though they acknowledge there is still a lot of work to be done.

The highlight of the day was when they all broke into song and dance of some popular song. It was brilliant to see 30 kids who were strangers only hours before spontaneously throw themselves full throttle into a choreographed routine they had learned from their peers. They transitioned into the traditional Irish song, "Girl from Belfast City" as they mockingly sang and danced with the same enthusiasm as the pop song. They danced and sang their hearts out, half mocking their traditional roots while inwardly embracing their heritage. We wrapped up the day by sharing our thoughts and unanimously expressing our desire to continue this work. I encouraged them to take chances and to be proactive in their art, creating opportunities among themselves to write, act and perform. I told them I wanted them to continue on until I can return, that today planted a seed of what is possible.

Their embraces and good-byes lasted forever as we danced on the city wall together before driving the Belfast kids back to the city. Phone numbers and email were exchanged. It was a magical day when all good things seem possible, when conflict disappears and you can dance on the walls that were originally erected to keep the enemy out. Thank you, Northern Ireland, for your heart, soul and spirit, and for giving us all the chance to share and rejoice together.

Pictures

This page has some technical difficulties. I will post pictures once I am back. Thank you for keeping up with our journey!!