#abdelfattah abusrour

[fiercynn]

A few days ago, as I was about to leave Alrowwad, a rocket intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome exploded over Aida camp. Fragments were falling. Many of our solar panels exploded. I felt our building and the floor under me shaking. We are all safe, but what is it like when the bombs hit houses, explode buildings, and unearth the earth under you?  During the night between October 18th and 19th, until 4:00 a.m., Israeli forces made a wide incursion into Bethlehem with a focus on capturing workers from Gaza. They managed to capture 60 people, though many others were smuggled to various hiding places for safety. Yesterday morning, they gathered at the Church of the Nativity, feeling that this might be the most secure place in Bethlehem. The last two workers from Gaza that we had hosted at Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society joined the others at the Church after the invasion. With so many emotions about our terrible situation, I wrote these poems. [x]

read abdelfattah abusrour's poems at mondoweiss (october 20, 2023)

[brokenteepee]

#ad Is #cookbookmail the same as #bookmail Or is it even better because it can lead to food? Many thanks to @ipgbook for three wonderful cookbooks to review: Bethlehem by Dr. Abdelfattah Abusrour and Manal Odeh Mary Berry Everyday by Mary Berry Eating the Pacific Northwest by Darrin Nordahl Stay tuned! . . #cookbooks #cookbookaddict #cookbooksofinstagram #cookbookreview #bethlehem #maryberryeveryday #eatingthepacificnorthwest #whatsfordinner #bookstagram #instabook #bookaholic #bookaddict #ipgbook (at Riverbend, Montana)

[theatredirectors]

Marina Bergenstock

Hometown?

Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Where are you now?

I’m currently living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin working as an Emerging Professional Resident at Milwaukee Rep.

What's your current project?

I am assistant directing Jane Eyre at the Rep and preparing the understudies for our understudy run. I'm also prepping my summer projects—Speed Dating Tonight (a one-act comedic youth opera) that I’m directing at Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre and Annie, where I will be the associate director at CMT Bartlesville.

Why and how did you get into theatre?

I can’t remember a time without theatre in my life. I started dancing, singing, and playing piano at age 5, and everything else just followed suit. I went from being a musical theatre fanatic, to discovering the Viewpoints and Suzuki, to performing in my first opera, and all kinds of formative experiences along the way.

One semester in undergrad when a play I acted in had ended and I was going through theatre withdrawal, I asked one of my professors if I could be her assistant director on a production of Summer and Smoke. She constantly came into rehearsal with amazing ideas and I was fascinated that she somehow oversaw all the characters and their individual choices while maintaining her own sense of direction. There's no other way to say it. I was fascinated and I wanted to see what it was like to create and shape a whole new world on stage.

After that, I directed a new play in our student-directed One-Acts Festival and I was hooked! I soon realized that I didn’t have to wait for someone to allow me to direct anything—that it was up to me what and where my next project was. With that, I staged a site specific production of John Patrick Shanley’s the dreamer examines his pillow on a set of 5 stairs with building construction in the background, and the whole staircase being surrounded by mirrors. I’ve been trying to create new world on stage ever since.

What is your directing dream project?

Oh, so many! There’s a new musical, Sea of Trees, that I workshopped (with Ryan Oliveira and Adam Phillips) that I have dreams about taking onward and upward. I also really want a crack at a site-specific Fallujah, Tobin Stokes and Heather Raffo’s opera about the Iraq War.

What kind of theatre excites you?

I love putting new worlds on stage, making theatre for people who don’t think that the theatre speaks for or to them.  

What do you want to change about theatre today?

Diversifying our offices, our stages, and our audiences.

What is your opinion on getting a directing MFA?

I got my MFA in Directing at the University of Iowa, and the experience was transformative, but it’s obviously not for everyone. Something that really fueled my decision was the fact that I’m drawn to putting new work and new worlds on stage, and UI’s Playwright’s Workshop, which has turned out playwrights such as Jen Silverman, Sam Hunter, is known for being a great training ground for directors. If you’re thinking about getting your MFA, my advice is—ask yourself why and what matters most to you. Is it location, connections, the type of work you’d get to direct, teaching, or specific mentors? Answering those questions before going to grad school not only helped me feel secure in my decision to go, but also gave me a clear sense of direction for all three years.

Who are your theatrical heroes?

Anne Bogart, Ariana Mnouchkine, Elizabeth LeCompte,  Judith Malina, Sarah Ruhl, Heather Raffo, Lameece Issaq, Naomi Wallace, Abdelfattah Abusrour, Marina Abramovic, A Rey Pamatmat, Young Jean Lee, Liz Lerman and Sam Hunter.

Any advice for directors just starting out?

Read everything you can. See all the work you can.

I was reminded of this Elia Kazan quote the other day when I felt guilty about not having time to do either of the things above due to back to back techs. It reminded me that everything in the world can be relevant to a director. — “Do not think, as you were brought up to think, that education starts at six and stops at twenty-one, that we learn only from teachers, books and classes. For us that is the least of it. The life of a director is a totality and he learns as he lives. Everything is pertinent, there is nothing irrelevant or trivial. O Lucky Man, to have such a profession! Every experience leaves its residue of knowledge behind. Every book we read applies to us. Everything we see and hear, if we like it, we steal it. Nothing is irrelevant. It all belongs to us."

-Elia Kazan

Plugs!

Speed Dating Tonight, Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre June 15-17

Annie, CMT Bartlesville July 19-23

marinabergenstock.com