I understand, but Rahul, why do people lie?

Thank-you for writing Rahul.

I hope that you will keep doing it and that other people will join us in the conversation. I really hope that they will try to communicate as best as they can also, in order to create a peaceful dialogue and not a huge wave of criticism on us, so that everybody can expose their idea without feeling ashamed or tortured by the thought of being criticized personally and openly. It is already hard to take a step and say what we think without being anonymous. We need to have freedom to speak in an open and favorable environment.

Rahul, I understand your point. War is ugly, from every angle, on every single side. And never ever, will anybody make me believe the opposite.

You say that 'the truth about the present war against Iraq is that it was launched on the basis of manufactured lies'- there are no weapons of mass destruction over there.

My question is: But why do people lie?

Why do they lie in the first place and make people think that in some cases, it can be right to kill someone else? What is it to them? People in power convincing others of moral codes... What is it to anybody, if you don't get anything in return? Unless your are one of those people who care for real.

Words and values without aim to action = nothing, air, wind. So, there has to be an action and a goal (or a goal to act). Then maybe in that case, it is a protective act 'no other choices for the immediate security of people, us or them';'Otherwise, we'll destroy ourselves'.

How terrifying. That's not what I want. Nobody wants that, unless you are suicidal. We want to be protected.

Or maybe, the act is to get petrolium, sell it, become someone.

WHO can I trust? It really is hard to tell.

For that person in position of power though, he/she knows what he/she's doing.

Why would someone lie? Isn't lying a sort of protection against something? I don't say 'this, this and this' because you might think that I am 'this, this and this' or that my motives are wrong. Why would I bother about what you think of me in the first place? Because I need your support? Your appreciation? What am I without that support? Nothing? A lonely human being with crazy ideas of destruction, or power?

Do people lie to be valuable in the eyes of others? That would be so sad. And yet, who can claim that 'ha it's ok if people don't value(love) me!'. Very few people, I would assume. Let's say a few free people.

More so and more terrible would be that everybody would believe a lonely human being that needs to be someone in the eyes of others. Why would they trust him and be willing to follow his orders? Because there is no other choice or to be valuable/protected in the eyes of others/from others, also? That would be a very vicious cycle of insecurities, indeed.

Do you think that it could be that simple? That it would be at the core of all our human drama? Or is it more complex? Maybe it is if we add fears, desires, love, pain and the fact that we change and learn through others.

Would there be a way out?

For now, it's just too much on my plate and I'll start by myself and act good myself.

I'm filled with questions. Thank-you for being outspoken, but still respectful of others (not racist) and real to me (not anonymous). It takes a lot of courage.

This week, I asked some questions to Dave Surette, our Technical Director and Production Manager.

Only People can stop the war

Hi Stephanie,

There is no justifiable war, but too often, many people in positions of power have tried to justified war under one pretext or the other. But the truth about the present war against Iraq is that it was launched on the basis of manufactured lies. More than a million dead, millions more made homeless, a destroyed country and a dictator sent to the gallows -- where are the weapons of mass destruction? George Bush declared the war in order to change the regime and install democracy. One has to question: what kind of democracy will it be that has been imposed by military might rather than by popular vote. When a country imposes democracy on another country by undemocratic means -- we have problems bigger than "regime change" or "bringing democracy".

A recent poll suggests that a majority of Americans oppose both wars. Then why is the war still on? Probably because the US is not run by majority -- it is run by a minority that controls money and thinks that war is a good business.

War will stop only by people's opposition against it. That is why we are presenting Truth and Treason. It is our creative response to end war and bring about social justice to the victims and survivors of the war.

Oups, sorry! By impish, I meant :espiègle...

Thanks for writing Arianna!!

You speak french... I meant: espiègle! Childlike, with a little laughter inside... Who likes to play and tease... Anyway, I guess my online translator is not quite a human translator yet. Ha, it is really something to communicate!

Sorry for this.

Also there was an event on the 23rd of July called In Place of War in England. It aimed to study how and why theatre emerges in Place of War... I just thought you should know that (I cannot post a video...)

Impish???

Impish???

My dear Stephanie,

I just happened to navigate through the impressive T&T blog; I am so taken by this well made video interviews, the quality of the artistic style and the poignancy of the contents. I am smiling and taking pride in being an active member of this community to the point I decide to share this with my husband and Kevin (lovely housemate in PEI), to whom I read excerpts of the articles and:

A: "Oh! Someone has posted a 9-adjectives definition of me!"

Zach: "What do they say?"

A: "oh well. (with a self-complacent 5 y.o. look on my face) that I am impish, energetic, spiritual... wait a minute: what does impish mean?"

Kevin: "Someone said you are IMPISH? Someone said that of you?? Oh..."

Zach: "Ape-like, mmm... sort of... mmm... I mean..."

Kevin: "It's not a compliment, not a compliment indeed..."

Zach: "well let me check. Mischievous. I guess that's the nicer way of saying it"

.

so, my dear Stephanie, I am IMPISH???

Because English is not my mother tongue and is not your either I guess I'll forgive you this time around.

Jokes aside I simply wanted to congratulate you for the great job on the blog and the PR element in general. Your own video interview is highly appreciated and respected. That's something needed : personal involvement, honesty, passion.

Now back to my side of the work.

AB

'On the street' panelists

My uncle saw this blog, he said 'I've seen that you were looking for Iraqis, I've got a friend who has some stories about Saddam', and we met. Someone else told me ' my girlfriend is from Iran and she experienced war, are you interested in meeting with her, maybe she'd like to talk about it'.
- Sure

Forgive or welcome the 'on the street' look of it. Here they are, natural:

The 9 Adjectives

Although I do not know them a lot, lot, lot, I'd say in 9 adjectives, I perceive:

ARIANNA : impish, energitic, spiritual, team worker, curious, unclouded, leader, restless(hard working) and intense

RAHUL: generous, sensitive, strong sense of righteousness, outspoken, never-say-die, inquisitive, humble, restless(hard working) and intense

Any similarity?

I thought...

She accuses the person on the right. She accuses the person on the left. She turns up there and blames the one on the top, then those underground. But we are here as a Canadian hockey player, greatly stopping each one of her escapes as if she was a puck, as if Shakespeare was right about the world being a vast theatre.

Is religious fundamentalism VS patriotism our new Cold War or is it about us playing Self Defense, still?

This play is a tribute to Habib Tanvir (a mentor of Rahul)

I did not know about this man before he died in the beginning of June. I wish I knew more of those extraordinary people who stand and step out, while they were still alive. I wish they had all the honors they deserved, while they were still alive, and that they inspired as many people as they could, because really, I think that it is those people who make us move forward -their dedication, mostly. I've read that he was a theatre person, poet and activist. Rahul was deeply close to him and wrote in his tribute:

' Through his life, he always responded to events around him, both through work and in an activist mode by taking part in marches, protests, and rallies. He remained an uncompromising enemy of parochialism, sectarianism, communalism and all other narrow-minded ideologies.

He loved children and had special fondness for our daughter Aliya who called him baba ji.

He was wonderfully warm, affectionate and a voracious reader. He was very curious about the world, what people were doing, the new productions, etc. He could not stop himself from living life to the fullest. Right till the end he was active and always making new plans.

In my last meeting, he told me that if health permitted, he would like to direct Truth and Treason in Canada. We didn’t get that opportunity, but we dedicate Truth and Treason to him. We celebrate his life with more meaningful theatres…'

I wish you can also allow yourself to be touched by this loss, and inspired by the man's life.

When you have a lot of money, you spend a lot of money

Linda Levesque, General Manager at Teesri Duniya !

What we want is an event that creates hope for global peace, what we want is not to be normal but to be true

Michelle + I + Khadija's art

Workshop and rehearsals will be an exciting time, but they won't start until August, so you'll have to bear with me 'til then! I have more willing people to present you before. Like next week, I'll introduce you to Linda; why she believes in what she's doing, why she quit her supra lucrative job (not that I think that it's bad to make a lot of money...Depends on how it's earned and what you do with it) and turned to do work with Teesri. At some point -and it is very striking- she says 'if we don't do it, who will?'

And Khadija Baker, the artist from Syria I talked about last week gave me a link to her very human work, have a look it: she told me "This was my project about the mass-graves in Iraq"

Finally here's a video of Michelle (prod. assistant and assistant stage manager) and myself. Why am I here?



Best,

Stephanie

Because Dr Nawal El Saadawi said I should tell the truth

MY VIEW OF WHY WE ARE STILL AT WAR ( AND I'M POSITIVE ABOUT US DISCUSSING AND IMPROVING THINGS, YES!)

You thought you were black or American or white
But now you get that you got screwed, by folks who got screwed
History shows you if you search well : followers, are we?!
What do you think?

I am opening up, oh yes I am –careful, there’s lava inside
And I may sound cheesy and I may sound extreme, and also, I surely sound romantic

You may think I’m selfish, talking about me, me, me, or you may see it as a way to get into you more easy.
Take it as you want but take it, it’s a gift
from inside a chest to another
Super simple!

Are you aware that people are talking to you? From everywhere, now and since ever
Not only do they blow you answers in the in the wind, they even modernized

I write because I need to tell you : oh man, look around, my dear world, you are sick! I think we’ve been tricked you and I finally -where’s the treat?

I thought I was Quebecoise and meant for glory
I didn’t like it; Quebecois have no self esteem and if you’re too good we hate you
That’s not what I longed for, who wants to be the devil’s pet

But then I grew up and the devil didn’t exist anymore
I even lost the frontiere between myself and a goat
Am I crazy, or should everyone be?

Plato thought the solution was a philosopher’s city
Everyone gets to be wise!
Plato I agree, but it has to be individualized

Or was it Aristotle?
Hum…One of them…We used to be close
I can’t seem to remember

Come on, I’m giving you a hand
Think!
Who are you?
If you can answer, go back to work, I’ll be there, but make more efforts
When everything gets blurry and you walk alone, know that it is where you need to be

And if I sound prophetic, it’s all right

You thought you were black or American or white
But now you get that you got screwed
History shows you if you search well : followers, are we?!
What do you think?

The chief whale’s going nowhere but to dark, I know that's not what you want
Walk your own path!
Oh, my little you, I love you so much
How will ya hide further and further and always longer?

I can’t wait anymore, I found the secret

It’s pulsing in there!
Do you hear it?

I know why you are still killing people!
After all these years, can you believe it?
I’m amazed at how we multiplied fears

We have them in the States and in Canada,
They are in Iraq and all around here, when I think about it

(-Might as well be a terrorist act…)

We have them as twins and sometimes triplets
Why is it that we accelerated ‘r curse?
Don’t we like ourselves?

This world is a scary paradise
Yes, this world
let’s be honest and forget ’bout the sky

I can try to explain, but what are my words to your experiences?
Are you scared?
I know, it is so, so, so
I know why you are still killing people!
This way you’ll be safe, this way you’ll be loved

A slap : Sorry, sometimes it’s needed
No slap : Ah! Go back to work, I’ll be there, but make more efforts
And by the way, make them for real and make them quick cause I care

And if I sound prophetic, it’s all right, and still,
you are there as you’ve always been and you think you are black or American or white
You appear to be a viril man or a sexy wife
But then, if you search and hopefully before your fly out of here,
You’ll get that you got screwed -Oh, oh!

History will show you if you search well : we are followers my friend.

What do you think?

-stephanie

Poster image

This is the basic look of it! Christine's on the left, design by Tracy Martin.

Women’s involvement in the Kurdish struggle

It is the title of the chapter I finished reading in my book.

On tuesday, we met with a friend of mine who’s from Iran and her friend who’s from Syria; she is Kurdish, she’s an artist and she deals with topics such as war, identity, stories/memory preservation. She is strong and dares to face what she finds difficult. She wishes to use art as a means to engage, communicate and preserve life, in a peaceful way. Thank you for talking to me, for your commitment and care.

In my book is written:

As Kurdish peshmerga had been receiving military and financial support from Iran, the Iraqi government retaliated brutally. The most known element of this systematic killing of Kurds was the 1987-88 Anfal campaign, nominally a counterinsurgency operation but in reality a carefully planned and executed program of ethnic cleansing in which fifty thoulsand to two hundred thoulsand people are estimated to have been killed, most of them men and adolescent boys. Thousands of Kurdish villages were systematically destroyed, and over a million and a half of their inhabitants were deported to camps with no water, electricity, or sewage. Others were executed as they were leaving their villages.

It is hard to imagine, it is very crushing, and yet it happened.

So what did they do?

A couple pages further, that same book states :

Hedi F., a member of the Women’s Union of Kurdistan who fled Kurdistan in 1990 and returned in 2005 to help rebuild her country, told Nicola in the spring of 2007 : ‘At the end of the eighties, Kurdish people fled to the mountains and to Iran. A group of us women thought, ‘We can’t just sit here, we have to be included in the Kurdish revolution’. So the Women’s Union of Kurdistan was founded with two aims : to support the national struggle and to support women. 'We were under attack by the government. Men were fighting and women were sitting and crying. We thought, we could provide nursing and support, to show that we can do something. Women needed education, health, and political awareness. So we provided this.'

And what do we do now?

I invite you to a Public Conference, organized by citizens in action and featuring an Internationally Renowned Human Rights’ Activist, Author & Feminist Dr. Nawal El Saadawi

the topic is :

The Paradox of our Post Modern World
Politics, Religion, Sexuality & Creative Dissidence


Date: July 6, 2009.

Place: Atwater Library, a National Historic Site

1200 Atwater Ave. (corner Tupper), right across from Metro Atwater , auditorium upstairs,

Time: from 7:00 sharp to 10.00 p.m.


photo by Mansour Nasiri

Dr. Nawal El Saadawi is an Egyptian medical doctor, a prolific writer, philosopher, international speaker, university professor and outspoken critic of blind fundamentalism. Her novels & books have been translated to thirty languages. Her most famous novel is “The Hidden Face of Eve,” published in 1980. She has received several literary prizes and honorary doctoral degrees, from various universities around the world. On account of her writing on political & sexual taboos, she lost her position at the Ministry of Health in Egypt . She was exposed to different types of oppression, including prison, exile and the banning of her books. She was accused of heresy by Al Azhar University but she won all the court cases brought against her. In 2008/9, she taught at Spelman College , in Atlanta . She continues to write and struggle for justice and freedom locally and globally.