I’m still in Santiago, though soon headed back to NY. The theatre world is still flat on its back, but I had a terrific online theatre experience recently: a reading of my play SO YOU CAN LOOK AHEAD, co-sponsored by Regent's University London and the memorial association, Gedenkort-T4, Berlin. The cast was from the USA, Italy and England, the producer was in the Netherlands and the director is English. The reading was recorded on Zoom, edited on IMovie with some added images and music, then "broadcast" as a private You Tube showing, and followed by a live Zoom Q & A with a panel of international scholars, discussing the history, eugenics, immigration and the play. The panel included Dr. Philippa Levine, Robert Parzer from Gedenkort T-4, Dr. Mireille Hebing, Professor Tom Villis, novelist Catherine Davidson and Elif Toker-Turnalar was the moderator. Their commentary was fantastic andt he script is even more topical than when I began it, four years ago The day of the reading, University College London announced the renaming of the famous Galton laboratories, named after the father of eugenics. Two days later, the American Natural History Museum announced the removal of the Roosevelt statue, with its white supremacy messaging, from their front door, in part because of their eugenic history. That museum is the central location of my play.
I've also been happy to be involved with #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence. This is a nationwide contest and theatre activism started by my friend and colleague Michael Cotey, soliciting short plays from high school students to address the epidemic of gun violence in this country. I've been honored to serve as a reader/judge for the first two rounds of the competition, which will ultimately develop and present 6 to 8 of them nationwide. There were 168 submissions and the 20 semi-finalists are being chosen now. Terrific project.
In other news, S.O.S. Talk Covid-19 has ended, but was certainly successful. Through this program, Luna Life Foundation gave hundreds of free consultations, medical and psychological, to people from 11 different countries, having had thousands of visitors from 35 different countries. We were able to help a lot of people, and we're in discussion now as to how we may continue offering this kind of service.
My translation of El Camino a tu Salud R.E.A.L. is currently with the graphic designer, and she's working on the layout. The Path to your R.E.A.L. Health will look much the same as the Spanish book, but aside from being in English we've made significant cuts and adds and some reformatting. I'm excited to see it in print, and to share it with others.
It's hard to know what's next. I may be doing THE CHRISTIANS in November at Next Act in Milwaukee, EL PANFLETO may be remounted in November in Santiago, the Spanish film 15 HORAS, for which I was an acting coach and script doctor, may be released this year, and there may be further activities with SO YOU CAN LOOK AHEAD. But right now it's hard to look ahead.
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