Make it Mondays: Journeys of Hope

The day of making things. *****

Just some of the crew. I'm in back by the big guy.

In my Marina Colleen books I have various craft stores because I love craft stores and I love crafting and it just seemed like a great thing to write about.

Most of the things I make require only me. Whether it's cross stitching a picture to hide away in a drawer because I can't afford to frame it, knitting a sweater that never fits right, or writing a book that no one reads even though it's published and for sale, it's just me doing it. Lil ole me, all by myself, alone.

However there is an exception. In my Christmas book coming out this year, called "Ebenezer's" (shameless self promotion) my characters are putting on the play "A Christmas Carol". Only with a twist which you can't know about until you buy and read the book which I hope to have available by Christmas.

And I too have been involved in plays. Usually I'm acting or directing because frankly, I'm not much good at anything else. I'm not much good at acting or directing either, but I like doing it so people put up with me, and sometimes stroke my ego, and give me hugs because that's what theater people do.

You can't do a play alone. Well, unless it's a one person play, but even if you write it, costume it, and perform it yourself, you still need someone to light you, and you need an audience. Although I guess you could just perform it in your living room under the harsh glare of a lava lamp.

Plays are a group activity. There are far more people behind the scenes than on stage. Everyone has a job and we all work together for the same goal. I was in a play where the job of some people was to hold the back of my heavy white cape which I wore while I ran around the building outside so I could be in the right place at the right time. No job is too small or unimportant. In 2016 I was honored to be a part of the brainchild of Jan Underwood, a woman who wanted to tell refugee stories. She worked for the Central Alberta Refugee Effort and she chose a handful of refugees to tell their own experiences that caused them to be refugees. But it was more than people just talking about their stories. Each refugee got to tell their story in an artistic way, through dance, art, play acting, music and whatever art form could be dreamed up. I was given Ethel and Ana's story to help tell. Ethel Suarez is the older woman sitting in the chair in the above picture. Ethen and Ana each wrote their version of what happened to them. I and Sharon Brown who is the second from the left in the back row, then turned their words into a play. Ethel portrayed herself, Anamarie Firu, the young woman sitting beside her, portrayed Ethel's daughter Ana since Ana did not want to be on stage (however she did sing for us). I also directed the piece. That's right, you had Anna Maria, Anamarie, and Ana all involved in the same mini-play. We were getting confused telling ourselves apart except I'm the middle aged heavy set woman and Anamarie is the beautiful young woman, and Ana wasn't around much. So I guess we could tell ourselves apart. It was an extraordinary experience. There were three other stories - one of which I had a small part and my daughter danced in. But it was this one that took my heart and soul because I was so involved. Writing, directing, editing, things I hadn't thought of before were now my responsibility. I was doing things I didn't know how to do but I had to smile and pretend like I did. But like I said - No one does a play alone and there were a lot of people involved with making this happen and I was just a small cog in a great big wheel. We performed only one night to a very appreciative audience. But someone turned it into a movie and it's there on youtube for anyone to enjoy at any time. I wish I could do something like this again. So here you go. This is the section of the larger project that I helped make.