The Roller Coaster Begins by Sumi Nayar

Where do I even start? This week has been a roller coaster. After meeting with the heads of Synchronicity, 7 Stages Theatre and Moving in The Spirit my mind was all over the place. Undoubtably inspired and very excited but confused beyond words. As days passed, the schedule became clearer and more opportunities kept popping up. We had some free time this week so we visited The Center for Civil and Human Rights and watched several shows and play readings.

My Experience at The Centre for Civil and Human Rights:

My understanding of visiting museums is that there is a distance between the spectator and the piece being observed. Reading about the civil rights movement on the internet or in books made me feel bad for the people faced with such brutal misbehaviour. However, going into the second floor of the Centre for Civil and Human Rights (expecting this distanced reaction), I was surprised at how quickly I was pulled into the movements.

Things that specifically stood out to me:

• Old-School TVs placed on top of one another that you could turn channels of and watch racist speeches (and more) from the 1960s. 
• The Jim Crow Laws placed on panels that turned according to the state you chose. 
• The Sit-In Protests simulation. This used sound very very effectively. It began with a man speaking in your ear (we wear headphones) about how everything is going to be okay, and then slowly the outside noises from the museum turn into the background noise of a restaurant and you're sitting amidst people screaming threats in your ear trying to get you to get up. The stood moved every time I heard the sound of a chair being pushed (as if they were physically trying to get me off my seat). I opened my eyes to one of the museum guides holding a tissue box. I might have needed the entire box to get through that experience. 
• Mirrors with projections of people talking about their lives. I saw myself and selected what I saw myself as from a variety of options ("Hindu", "Woman","Artist", etc. - several different categories). Then a person appeared in front of me, projected over my reflection so I could very obviously see myself in her. 

The Center left be not feeling bad for anyone, but inspired to create art that reflected truths in as engaging a manner as the museum.

[The above are just a few, I'll add more as they come to mind]

We also watched several, incredibly different shows, starting with the play reading of "Exit Strategy" by Ike Holter, directed by Kenny Leon. It was hilariously written, with characters talking over one another- sometimes not paying attention to what someone says and sometimes paying too much attention. I thought it was an interesting look into Public Schools in Chicago and would love to see a full production of it.

Then we moved on to the Fringe Festival! We watched six shows total.

• "The Birds, The Bees and Other Four-Letter Words" was a Moth style performance with four different people coming up on stage and talking about normally upsetting stories in a humorous way. I think the perspective they took on their stories was a delight to watch and definitely hit home a few times. For example, one woman told a story about how much she hated her brother as excerpts or pauses between a conversation she was having with her mother in which she would find out that he passed away. The most heart wrenching part about the story was that she never had to say how much she loved him or start crying in front of us- she simply told the story and left the room open for emotions.
• "[Insert Title Here]" was an Improv group called Improvasaurus. They were absolutely hilarious! They were given a title around the lines of what happens under the covers, from an audience member. From that they created a one act about the cloth mafia. A character that specifically stood out to me was Lenin Eddie (Apparently his name was spelt like the dictator but pronounce "linen"). The actor seemed to find the gap in the story line filled with mafias and placed himself in as a clueless waiter. His character brought the plot together and related the different worlds by putting himself in just the right places. He was also very committed to his confusion. I don't think I can articulate it well enough, but I guess thats what Imrpov's good at. Its that show that you saw that one time with that specific group of people, and then its done and you can't go back, so you have to savour its memory.
• "An Incomplete Sex Education" was fun too. It was visually engaging and filled with very interesting anecdotes of the woman's life. She made "Penis Mochi" that we all ate at the end of her show, which was a pretty funny feeling. I also loved her use of the violin as ambient sounds. When she wanted to show us the chitter chatter in the classrooms she'd pluck the strings very quickly and slowly if there were slower moments- it helped her control time.
• "Smoking Gun"- I had very high expectations going into the show as it dealt with a variety of social issues that I felt needed to be addressed, the central one being gun violence. However, I was disappointed as to how the show actually played out. The characters didn't seem developed enough (as we saw in the talk back with the characters, a girl changed the location of where she murdered someone- probably because she didn't remember what she said during the show). They played with stereotypes, making the characters assume that a sardar was from "Taliban" because of his turban. I understood what they were trying to do but it became funny. The sardar laughed about being compared to a terrorist organisation. That made no sense to me. One actor did however pay a lot of attention to his character. He played James Holmes (the man responsible for the shooting in a movie theater in 2012). Talking to him after the show, he explained to me that he developed his character based on the journal of James Holmes released a few days ago. I plan to read it. I thought the idea of having a talk-back with the character's instead of the actors was one of the most interesting parts of the show, though. 
• "Hip Hop in Wonderland"- Super fun and exciting. It put me in a good mood and was definitely different from any kind of 'musical' I had seen before.
• "Waking Pressure"- probably my favourite show from all that I saw. The director/ choreographer combined different dance forms to get the idea of the vacancy in human interaction across. The clothes being taken off and on symbolised the layers that we are all made of. It raised a lot of questions for me and I'm still processing it. The movement was smooth and punctuated along with breathing which had a rhythm of its own. The piano was improvised based on the performer, which I thought was an example of how the cast has come to know each and understand how the other moves and breathes. Still processing this show. 

This week really has been a roller coaster of experiences.