Work with my play

Fot the last week I've been very busy working with my play "Free Entry". I'm very happy with my actors, but there is a lot of work directing, writing my IPP, fixing props, blocking and thinking about set designs. I made a model of the stage, I've painted backdrops for the set, I made a sheep hat and accessories for the "rare bird", a bloody towel and painting of the set design. It is inspirational to see my ideas evolve and I get new ideas as I work. I'm very happy to have a stage manager to help me visualize my ideas and great actors to communicate my vision! I think I'm something of a "control freak" concerning my play, but I'm not sure that is a bad thing. I suspect that this is something every director have to deal with, even If I'm going to be very vulnerable opening night, because I feel I'm exposing my "heart and soul" through this play. I'm also getting more and more inspired as I work and I'm going to post a film on this blog when I finally see the result!
I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm feeling that I'm well under way! The next step is to finalize the action plan, prop list, wardrobe and lighting. I also have to put in the high gear concerning rehearsals. Now it is mainly to have the actors learn their lines, and perfecting the blocking!

My sister played dead for scene 6. I used fake blood and an old towel.

Set design. Five different back drops are illustrating the seven different settings. I made a model to visualize it for the actors and my stage manager. My mom helped me sew and paint the back drops.

The sheep hat - a wardrobe detail for William in one of the dream scenes.

Directing a surrealist play in the Fringe Festival at ISK

I've been working hard on finding a play to direct and the device I'm going to explore for my IPP (Individual Project Portfolio) for HL Theatre in March. After having great troubles due to matatu strikes, sport events and the holidays, we finally were able to have the auditions for actors for our plays. I'm quite happy with my actors. I only need three, and got three good ones! I've been working hard on analysing my script, which is a Surrealistic play by Roger Vitrac, called free entry. I'm really excited about the project and I think I can do quite well. Because the play is surrealistic, it took me the whole break to find the script and finally analyse it, but finally I THINK I know what it is about. Now I need to write bios for the characters and discuss it with my actors. It is going to be interesting to see if they have anything to add to my analysis. I need to get my drama teachers approval of the play, and I really hope she will approve it - rehearsals are starting next week!!

Hard work...

Working really hard on a thing that I will reveal soon. One of the things that will help me in this is to post a video of Dan, who is a new friend of the school to the web site. Here is the result:

Folders, flyers and film for Oakland school

Today I produced a folder a flyer and two films for Oakland school in Rongai. Mercy, who is the principal of the school were working together with me, she wrote the text and I designed the folder and flyer. I had earlier filmed her out in the school, so I cut together a film I think presented their visions for the school well. They say that they want an "International type" school, with lots of academics, but also a place for the children to explore other talents, like theatre, arts, music and sports. It is interesting that they want to bring this to a small village outside of Nairobi and I think they are going to get a lot of interested parents. It all made me reflect on that things that are so normal and readily available for us international students, are not something regular schools in Kenya can provide for their students. I also compared it to the school in Mathare, where only basic academic is being taught. This school is more for middle class Kenyans in the village, but they are also taking on some orphans and trying to find sponsors for them, so they are showing a big social responsibility. Both Mercy, Max and Dan are well educated and smart people and feel they need to give back to their community. It's encouraging that they feel this way and this will really make a difference in children's lives. I also love that Mercy is incredibly smart and have these high ambitions and I'm sure the school will be a great success. It is going to be a lot of fun to follow the progress of the school!

Doing a drama production

On yesterdays performance, I was actually glad to be an actor. I know all my lines and feel comfortable in my roles. I even felt confident enough to improvise a little (even if the director thought I took to much attention on stage, so I might have to tone it down a bit.) I also got a lot of really great comments from school friends and teachers, which makes me happy and thinking it is worth the effort. I'm comparing it ta last years experience to work back stage. There is so much to keep in mind and you really can't relax a minute during the two hours performance. Even if you're not exposed to the audience it is truly nerv wrecking to be responsible for everything that goes on back stage. As an actor, I'm able to take short breaks when I'm not on stage and as back stage crew you have to be in control all the time. I'm really thankful to all the back stage crew this year and really not envious of what they are going through. My drama teacher wanted someone of the seniors to direct the next school play, and I would really love to get that experience. But, I doubt I would be able to put in all the time and the hard work required and to train the back stage people as well as directing the cast would be extremely hard. To have the ultimate responsible of a production is something that seems quite impossible!

Tonight is my last performance and I'm looking forward to it. It feels great and at the same time a bit sad that it is over soon. Next week my life is getting back to normal, and the biggest challenge will be to catch up on everything I missed during the last couple of weeks.

Theatrical premiere

Today was the first day we performed Arabian nights. We are going to do one matinée and three night performances. We were all quite nervous, but it went fairly well. The audience was not really big and mainly kids from schools near by, so that felt good. Tomorrows performance will be more nervous!
My mom managed to record our warm-up on video...I'm the one with a loose headdress!

And some more images:

Art center entrance

Me and the King!

Report to the Swedish Society

One of the criteria to get funds from the Swedish society is to make a report on the results and send in the receipts. I started working on this over the break, I still need some photos for the poster I need to make for the christmas bazaar in the Swedish school in December. I will probably not have time for that    next week, because I'm really busy in school right now.   

Drama, drama, drama and loads of work

We're coming in on our last two weeks of rehearsals and preparations for the production "Arabian Nights". It is taking up a lot of time and we're in rehearsals until 6 pm every day. I'm a bit worried that I can't keep up with my CAS work this coming two weeks and I'm suspecting that the drama production is going to take time during the coming week-ends as well. I'm playing five roles in the play, so I'm quite busy. There is also a lot of focus on my history IA, my drama RI, my math IA, the biologi IA, a TOK essay and presentation and last, but not least my EE. I'm doing the SAT on Saturday, and still need to organize some of my college applications. Needless to say, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment.
I know that now is the time to only focus on the next thing you need to do, but I also know that eating healthy, sleeping and exercising is important to be able to get through this stressful situation (or, thats what my parents keep telling me). There is no time to feel sorry for myself, and to be truthful I feel better that almost all the seniors are in the same situation as I am. I'm not alone!
I'm hoping I can find time for a Taekwondo class this week-end and some time to organize my work load. There is no way that I'll have the time during the coming two weeks to finalize my poster and my report for the Swedish Society. To update the web page for Excellent is also on the agenda, but that has to wait too. This is the IB program in full force!!! I hope I'll survive until the christmas break.

Global grant

My mother found a Swedish organisation called Global grant. Just by register your project, you get the possibility to get bou 150 000 Kes. She applied for membership and now we can search this site for companies that possibly could donate money to Excellent Care center and school. By becoming a member, the project also will be displayed in their registry, for interested companies to see.
I haven't had the time to go in and search it thoroughly, but will do that very soon.
It is fascinating that if you just search the net a bit, you'll find lots of great opportunities and new ways of forming alliances. I just wish I had the time right now to do a more thorough search and find more good opportunities - I'm inspired right now!

Planning with Ebba

My sister, Ebba who is in 7:th grade wants to help out with Excellent. I had a plan to make a photo collage for the school because the kids love to see themselves on photos and this is a project that would be great for her. Christmas will be coming up soon, so she can design the new Christmas cards and help me sell them. She can also take over my responsibilities with the Swedish Society (I know they always need help, and she's been helping out before).
My mom thought it would be a great idea if she applied for money from them next year. I was planning to do that, even if my CAS work will be done by them, but I guess it's only fair to let her do it if she's doing all the work I did last year.
I was also thinking that she could help mom and her friend with informing about the menstrual things, but I don't know if she is too young for that.... I will think about it and decide later.
I think this is enough work for her for now, even though she wanted more.

Ebba in the school

Webpage for Excellent

I managed to design and post the new website for Excellent school. The object of this site is to inform people who have donated money about the progress as well as giving some basic information about the school. I bought the domain name, excellentcarecenterandschool.org (a bit long, but the best one I could get) and payed about 60 euros for that. Then, when I wanted to publish the site, they asked for another 60 euros to host the site! I got quite upset because everywhere I read that this was a totally FREE service..... I managed to charge it to my dad's Amex card (after all it's for a good cause). Now I have the domain for two years and the hosting for one year and feel safe.

I think the homepage came out nice, and being the administrator I can go in and edit it whenever I want to. This is going to be a great help in my work.
I also struggled a bit with how to handle the privacy issues. The images posted on the page are mainly on people I know, and I've asked for their permission, but what about all the kids? I need to have a talk with George and ask for his advice on how to handle this. It makes me feel better that I suspect that the students will be glad to be seen on the page because it's purpose is ultimately to raise money for them.

click this link to check out the page

Working on the webpage

Very confusing and a lot of hard work! I don't know how to save the page, so I'll just keep working until I'm done. I know there are possibilities to go in an change it later and I'm guessing it's going to be a lot of changing to be done. It's also expensive, even though Wix says it's going to be for free! Just bought the domain name excellentcarecenterandschool.org for 60 euros. How is that free? I'm still quite happy that I managed to get such a good web address. Hope it's going to be worth the money! I'll just keep on going until I'm happy about the first look of the page!

The next challenge will be to update it now and then. To make the web page visited by interested persons, I think it's important to update and bring news continuously. Things are happening in "waves" - sometimes so much is going on, and sometimes there is nothing new to tell.... I guess I can add new images when the progress is slower, but I'll decide how to handle it when the page is done. I get a bit nervous when I'm not able to save the page. What if it doesn't work out? I'll probably get better and better with this when I'm done with this first page, but right now it is harder than I expected it to be. I'm suspecting I'm going to learn a lot from working on this webpage! I still think the internet is a fantastic tool to market your project, and it is great that it is so available and it will make my work easier once it's up!

Taming of the shrew

Tonight it's time for the taming of the shrew in the Globe theatre. We are also having a Workshop and a tour of the Globe theatre. Some say you've never experienced Shakespeare until you visit the Globe theatre. I did it last year and standing all through the theatre performance was not at all as hard as I thought it would be. It's really quite an experience (but you need good shoes). Looking forward to this day! Not the right play but a funny image:

One man two guvnors

Yesterday I laughed all through the play "one man, two guvnors". It was so well played and very, very funny and also very British. The whole group loved it and I think it is right there at the top of my theatrical experiences, next to war horse (that I'm seeing for the second time this week). I was also deeply impressed by the interaction the actors had with their audience and their physical way of performing this comedy. The London week has really started off great and the days are filled with theatre, workshops, museum visits and shopping. We have lots of activities left and I'm looking forward to it all.

Off to London

Tomorrow I'm leaving Nairobi for London. We have a full week of going to performances, workshops and shopping ahead! I'm really looking forward to it - last years trip was great. There is going to be no time for thinking of my CAS, because we really have a full schedule. The shows we're going to see are: One man two guvnors, We will rock you, The Busy Body, Taming of the shrew (in the Globe theatre) and war horse (I saw that one last year but will enjoy it again!).

I'm aslo looking forward to good fast food, shopping and just enjoying London (one of my favorite places).

New helper

My sister has been quite curious about my work in the school. She asked our CAS supervisor if she could do her cas this year by helping me with my project. She's been in the school with me a couple of times and really enjoys it. Now, I just need to figure out how I can use her in the most effective way! I'm thinking that she can help me design and sell christmas cards this year. I'm also planning to design a calendar that I can sell with images from the school and maybe she can be helpful with that. I'm sure, however, that I will make her visit the school with me. Maybe she can read to the smaller kids or tutor some of them. It will take some planning, but I'm sure I can make use of her time! It is great to see that my work in the school can inspire others. When you are passionate about something, people tend to follow your lead and get curious and ready to help. This is also a fact that I found to be true in Sweden last summer. So many people wanted to help when they heard about the project. It is up to me to keep them interested and help them help the school in any way they can. I'm planning to set aside time to sit down and think of different ways and opportunities at least once a week.

Ebba on a school visit last year

Closing the project

My Funded by me project is now closed. I managed to get about 23 000 Kes. I guess that is OK, but I know that I have to do it differently the next trime I try. I really need to market my project harder. So, I guess I have to view this as an learning experience, even though I managed to earn some money. The problem now is that I really don't know how I will get the money! The administrators for funded by me will are supposed to contact me, but I'm feeling a little anxious about this. I'll just have to wait a few days I guess....

Movie for the website

I found this fantastic movie about schools in Mathare. Of course Excellent was one of them! I managed to download it and edit it so it only shows Excellent. I'm quite happy with the result!

Start of drama rehearsals

The first to rehearsals of “Arabian Nights” has gone well. There are a lot of young and excited talents along with the more senior and more experienced students that will perform in a very basic, yet difficult structured play. Every actor has several roles and it will be a challenge for each one of us to switch characters in a short time. So far, we are reading through the stories, while learning each others voices, tones and approach to the text as well as how we feel together as a group. The opening rehearsals has been very good and everyone is enjoying it. The task at hand for each individual will be to learn hair lines. Although this can be quite easy after several read throughs, I feel that we need to pay attention to this. Most of us are in the IB program and we all have many academic demands and plenty to study. It will be tough, but I know we are going to be rewarded.

Facebook messages, e-mails and strategies

I've re-posted the  funded by me project on facebook.  As I was working, I realized that I need to update both people who has given me funds and people who has shown interest, so they will give me money. In the end I wrote about 10 e-mails and spent a whole day working with fund raising for Excellent. It is hard work and many of the people I mailed has not even answered. It feels really sad that it is so hard to find interested people sometimes. I think that it is hard for people to realize and understand how a day in the Mathare slums look like because if they did I'm sure they would give me some money. I'm doing my best to educate them, but some are not even interested... What world do we live in when people only think of themselves and the ones close to them? Why can't they open their hearts and minds for the bigger picture? Or just send me an e-mail replying that they are not interested?
I'm aslo thinking about contacting big Swedish companies, for sponsring. Money would be good, but there are some products that we need as well...... need to think more and develop some kind of strategy.  My uncle gave me some tips on how to proceed and new ideas on people to contact. I have to keep on working hard. It is like everything you do needs to be redone often. I will keep you posted!