My 100 word play is now on the Royal Court website.
Ball Play by Alex Burger
I am fennel . . .
An odd thing has happened as I have moved back to working full time within a big mining organization. I took the job because I was worn out by being out there on my own – managing so many jobs and writing projects – a heavy freedom. Now, being part of an organization, I now imagine myself as fennel. On its own fennel is a strange and sometimes difficult food, but as part of a soup, it add a unique flavor while losing its singular bite. I am now enjoying being part of a mix, my identity now much more about how I influence others and they me. The break and context I’ve sorely needed.
Amazing Life
Have been working in Ghana, Liberia, South Africa, DRC, and Tanzania for the last six months, and will continue to do so for awhile. One of my big jobs to figure out how to co-exist with the hundreds of thousands of Artisanal and Small Scale miners that work in and around our mining operations. Some pictures from Tanzania. An amazing life . . . .
Whose Blood featured in Wellcome History Publication
Whose Blood was recently featured in the Wellcome Trust History magazine. “What would you do for love? Alex Burger’s new play, which premiered in London in March 2011, explores this question (and much more) in the medically and socially charged atmosphere of Britain in the early 1830s.” Wellcome Trust: Whose Blood Review
“Rumble” Play Reading
Got through the “Rumble in the Jungle” play reading. It was an early second draft, but great to hear it aloud in a room. At events like this I’m reminded that theatre only really exists between us, and so amazing to hear it come alive. It was wonderful, painful, exhilarating, crushing, many things all at once. Back to writing, thanks to all who made it happen.
Five Films that Changed my Life
I was talking with a dear friend the other day, who is back in town after a couple years, and we got to talking films, and I found myself telling her films she had to see. And then I realized the films I was naming were all really difficult pieces of work, and yet they are the films that have stuck with me. Something in the form of all these films is utterly different than what I had imagined possible and they changed how I think about film, and ultimately how I see the world. So here’s the list, and here’s to hard art that changes us.
#5: In the Mood for Love – for its sheer aesthetic beauty.
#4: Y Tu Mamá También – for the narration that tells a 2nd truth.
#3: Bamako – for the story that moves between the World Bank on trial, to women dyeing fabric, to men sitting in the street – all of the same importance.
#2: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Live – for the shifts from mythical to the mundane, all in a moment
#1: 35 Shots of Rum – for the beauty of relationship, and nothing else.
Play Reading Tonight
It’s been a year since I’ve done a large scale play/film reading at my house. Tonight is my “Rumble in the Jungle” play reading. Blessed to have friends and community to do this with. Here are the pics from last year.
Whose Blood Online
Breakfast in Johannesbug
I’ve woken up each day this week to work on my world food film with my co-creator Jim. I’m at a fancy hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa, anId he’s some 9,000 miles away in Oakland raising a near one year old, so we connect before work, my time, and before bed, his.
I eat waffles, fresh fruit, and strong tea as we write through drought in Ethiopia, embattled corn harvest in Mexico, grain trading in the USA. These characters, whom I know better than most of my friends, and Jim’s voice threaded through the computer surround me alone, perched in my Johannesburg hotel room.
Rubber in Liberia
I’ve spent the last couple weeks traveling around Liberia visiting rubber plantations and mine sites, talking with people about how these businesses can better benefit local citizens. I like the technical discussions the best: the cost of replanting a plantation slaughter tapped during the war, the tonnage of various trucks to transport, the process for cleaning and packing rubber. This plant is run by a lovely Congolese woman who when I break into speaking french with her, invites me to her party. Sometimes I marvel at home blessed I am to drop into all of these various worlds.
