On stage. Again.

A.G. Billig & Fernando Mihalache

Last week, I was on stage again, for the second performance of “Summer Story”, a happening inspired by my debut short-story book “Four Doors and Other Stories”. This time it was part of a bigger event – Filit, Iasi International Literature and Translation Festival.

I got there only a day before, late in the after-noon and left the day after so I had little time to enjoy the other events the festival was packed with. But I  noticed that the audience was made up mostly of young people. Actually, I saw the children and the grand-parents. The parents or the young professionals must have been caught up at work.

New poster

Rehearsals

Before the show

Iasi is a very pleasant city – it lies on seven hills, same as Rome. It has a rich educational and cultural life and in the past, it gave many important Romanian writers, politicians and intellectuals. Lately, it most gives cute females as TV presenters or models. One of the most important Romanian publishing houses is also located in Iasi. It has money to put into promotion and fair participations as well as its own print cultural magazine so no wonder its roost of writers is pretty well known. This doesn’t imply the best. I opened one or two books, randomly and I couldn’t help to close them quickly enough.

Darling behind me, a painting by Codrin Mircea

There were many writers in Iasi. Mostly Romanians, some foreigners. They were all dressed in dark colours and serious, doing their best to look serious, to look like intellectuals. Or maybe when I saw them it was lunch or dinner time and they were hungry. Me and Fernando – my stage partner in “Summer Story” we smiled all the time. Made jokes. We had every reason to be happy. Especially after our performance was over and the audience gave us a big round of applause. After signing off my books, mostly to young people.

Being on stage as an actoauthor for the second time was far easier and better than the first one. The character, a career woman, undergoes an inner transformation throughout the whole play. At the beginning, she is this 30 hers old woman, a bit unsure of herself – obviously, she tries to show the opposite, frustrated, angry, scared longing to escape from her life. She simply doesn’t know who she is anymore. Step by step, living every day’s miracles at the seaside – a storm, the sunrise, she begins to unwind and let go of compromises in her life. The first on the list is.. darling. It is not until the end of the play that we see a genuine, authentic smile and light coming out of her soul. So, I had to build my character gradually. Same as if opened a door, not at once, but bit by bit.  Fernando had this brilliant idea that I cut the text into fragments and find out the emotions and feelings that were lying there, the power words. I took his advice and it worked.

The beginning

After three days in Iasi, I felt inspired. To carry on my dream, to get “Four Doors” to the next level. To being more than a book, but a new form of storytelling. I also feel that as an artist, I am respsonsible for every word I put on paper. I can not offer to those people – especially the young ones, a bucket full of frustration, anger, hopelessness. I am suppose to tell stories, as real as life can be. Stories that show them that it’s all right to stumble. It’s all right to make mistakes. Because these are mere teachers. Because we are all good and beautiful and great. All we need is the courage to embrace our greatness.

Summer Story Cast

After the show