tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87459063946825703572024-03-12T19:54:21.815-07:00LAZZIdwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-9084115462953374302020-03-21T04:06:00.001-07:002020-03-21T04:06:38.944-07:00Equinox April Foole<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiPqjs2JffcYOfxR6wqqn2y5EmREYrf3-c8-4-JmwViGBAeB4XBuXSNLuez8xUe9cpLjgQehWzUXBhmuOF_BUu42jLzsw2_h8DRr-hzxY5elUJuh1Hv7m4a2IO9IVGfAlQgtt6RLxpivMC/s1600/FOOLE.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1543" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiPqjs2JffcYOfxR6wqqn2y5EmREYrf3-c8-4-JmwViGBAeB4XBuXSNLuez8xUe9cpLjgQehWzUXBhmuOF_BUu42jLzsw2_h8DRr-hzxY5elUJuh1Hv7m4a2IO9IVGfAlQgtt6RLxpivMC/s320/FOOLE.JPG" width="308" /></a></div>
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Awkward Travel...</div>
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Yikes! Me came out of Nowhere.</div>
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This little urge -- Be a Better One.</div>
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Flux'd about take it seriously</div>
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And yet, if that's all need to do -- it's easy: Just Better.</div>
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There's a tiny entity within... making suggestions, as obvious.</div>
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A busy brain crowds them out. Pick new fruit from good tree.</div>
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A cartoon version of you would simplify all decisions.</div>
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You are the artist of all this anyway, so try being the 'toon.</div>
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Does a monster or an angel ever better themselves ?</div>
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Is that why it so rarely happens with the rest of us ?</div>
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Evolution is happening anyhow -- so why not give it a nudge ?</div>
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One thing I am fairly sure about : When it begins... You can feel it.</div>
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dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-56042705508451136302018-03-21T04:10:00.001-07:002018-03-21T04:14:22.846-07:00equinox<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0o1CDzpi0slqo1EFQb4XthTtLonNy-UQL1RJXoqtkS2qTqjPBnPvO8dQPJCGyvqzmybLa6inD-OxhMJiR8vD92eAhmhjEujOwGe9EjR8dhVKNepjfwVBNkfayYkn90DtcXeeFODmUr1O/s1600/zen+baka+2+crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1387" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0o1CDzpi0slqo1EFQb4XthTtLonNy-UQL1RJXoqtkS2qTqjPBnPvO8dQPJCGyvqzmybLa6inD-OxhMJiR8vD92eAhmhjEujOwGe9EjR8dhVKNepjfwVBNkfayYkn90DtcXeeFODmUr1O/s200/zen+baka+2+crop.jpg" width="173" /></a></div>
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When you discover :</div>
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The Impossible</div>
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is only</div>
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The Invisible</div>
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You make Tea</div>
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and find an Inclination.</div>
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Those Apparitions</div>
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have a mind of Our Own.</div>
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dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-87613747832392269702017-12-29T04:11:00.000-08:002018-03-21T04:04:52.909-07:00Kaibutsu Mojotai<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>'To Be or Not to Be - that is the Question.'</i></div>
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-- appears to be the essential to Existentialism.</div>
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Who and what we Will ourselves to be --</div>
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is likely to be most like who we ever were in our Beginnings.</div>
dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-32748373107687786872017-11-16T06:55:00.002-08:002018-03-21T04:03:59.055-07:00in Limbo : only just a rumour.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>'Except you may remember me,</i></div>
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<i>I'm not really here.</i></div>
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<i>I may be the topic of discussion,</i></div>
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<i>But I'm only just a rumour.</i></div>
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<i>Some people may have already heard about me,</i></div>
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<i>But the jury is still out.</i></div>
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<i>You can leave me a message, you can take a vote,</i></div>
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<i>But I'm only just a rumour.</i></div>
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<i>Now, you may have a theory,</i></div>
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<i>And the plot may have a twist,</i></div>
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<i>But in answer to your query :</i></div>
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<i>I am rumoured to exist.'</i></div>
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dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-36708706943859378272016-09-01T01:45:00.001-07:002016-09-01T01:49:37.415-07:00Zen Existentialism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4svlTdF-zl1iMinW1Dv-4AV3jKJNv7Bwf9u25V8GMwirgBPZoyXAcJYMaMWIrbwsIU8Br65E7zxAOzCyJZZUVgPa9iZ8WlgmBaPwxomdL48G_G8xUy8NCJZ9SX5CBUlqVZSefW9yPqatK/s1600/Limbo+in+garden.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4svlTdF-zl1iMinW1Dv-4AV3jKJNv7Bwf9u25V8GMwirgBPZoyXAcJYMaMWIrbwsIU8Br65E7zxAOzCyJZZUVgPa9iZ8WlgmBaPwxomdL48G_G8xUy8NCJZ9SX5CBUlqVZSefW9yPqatK/s320/Limbo+in+garden.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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If I am a Monster </div>
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I shall be one with Grace</div>
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a fearless Innocent</div>
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the face of he who knows Nothing</div>
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an Enigma, perhaps...<br />
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dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-38199522191482346242016-08-22T03:27:00.000-07:002018-03-21T04:03:12.192-07:00To Be Zen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Zen </b>will not be explained by words.</div>
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It resides in another dimension.</div>
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It is not really understood.</div>
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But it may lead you to the way it is known.</div>
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It is not a religion -- not a belief -- not even a philosophy.</div>
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But it may be lived by a choice of Will.</div>
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It may be a compliment to Existentialism.</div>
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It works like a sort of Behavioural Jazz.</div>
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First: you must slow down. Mantra: <i><b>"osoi..."</b></i></div>
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not only physically, but mentally -- avoiding urgency.</div>
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Begin to 'pay attention' to all that goes on in your environment --</div>
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with all of your senses </div>
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including: intuition - intelligence - imagination.</div>
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Recognise what may be changed -- and what may not.</div>
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Avoid argumentation -- and proceed with humility</div>
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by providing an example. Be gracious.</div>
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Acknowledge your mistakes and failures --</div>
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and seek not the praise of others.</div>
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Permit yourself happiness -- and a sense of humour.</div>
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Be not seduced by opinions (especially your own).</div>
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Learn to love solitude and abstinence --</div>
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and the companionship of animals.</div>
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Become the best you that you can imagine.</div>
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<u>Trust silence.</u></div>
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dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-37467705986232045452016-01-18T08:16:00.002-08:002018-03-21T04:01:56.196-07:00Zen -- is your secret magic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Zen is more than a mysterious secret</div>
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of ancient Oriental mysticism.</div>
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It is of contemporary interest worldwide.</div>
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Can you imagine zen without knowing</div>
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or really understanding</div>
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what it is supposed to be ?</div>
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It need not be learned --</div>
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we are zen already</div>
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if we let go of things we cling to --</div>
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we may be left alone with ourselves</div>
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in a zen state --</div>
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in the clearest reflection</div>
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of our being.</div>
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Zen gives us permission</div>
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to simply exist.</div>
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Yes, a form of existentialism --</div>
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contemporary and universal</div>
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and, like good secrets, intrinsic.</div>
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Zen -- is your secret magic.</div>
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dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-27434970715687485552015-09-03T06:31:00.000-07:002018-03-21T04:01:20.771-07:00spectra<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On The Artistic Ethos of Being</div>
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Crawling through the pages of Jean-Paul Sartre's <i>Being and Nothingness</i>, you cannot help thinking about the qualities of being, and initially, considering the qualities of negation, or <i>not </i>being. It has not been too taxing for me to ponder the things relating to performance that I did not want to be now, or do now, in the new work. I did not want to be an actor. I no longer wanted to be a mime, at least in the conventional sense.</div>
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To perform or to act seems inconsistent with just being, without doing. But imagery is nonetheless created, and the pictures are worth a thousand words. So is this installation art? Perhaps, except it is not only visual. It, he, the creature, has a living soul, a personality, and states of being which are sincere, if in <i>limbo.</i></div>
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Not only observation is engaged here, but also recognition. Something is familiar while also being strange.</div>
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There is a knowing sense of relationship and truth which doesn't necessarily have to be 'real'.</div>
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Shakespeare writes that the purpose of 'playing' is to <i>"hold the mirror up to nature". </i>As a mime I knew and embodied this, that a mime reflects as a stylish, true-if-unreal representation of human nature. But now I prefer to think of myself as a s<i>pectra</i>... a vision of someone who isn't, but might be. He is an odd alternative, a sort of benign monster, showing us who we are not, but could be. </div>
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In this, he plays the fool, he manifests becoming. He is zen baka.</div>
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LIMBO</div>
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<i>Adrift... without More-ings</i></div>
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<i>on a Sea of Tranquillity,</i></div>
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<i>Moon-lit.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>Left Somewhere ---</i></div>
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<i>Not Arrived Somewhere Else.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>Buoyant in Levity,</i></div>
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<i>a-fool-a-loof.</i></div>
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<i>Silent in Stillness,</i></div>
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<i>Alertly Asleep.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>Diver,</i></div>
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<i>Strokes of the Deep.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>Fearless & Innocent</i></div>
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<i>as an Octopus.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>Acutely Alive.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</i></div>
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<br />dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-54813189616288490072015-04-01T01:08:00.000-07:002017-11-16T06:47:45.640-08:00April Foole's Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYzyBaqHJOs3swyg2muehUnuZT7PsMO43xUnFYSNiXYaf4pZy6jU0kvDbYGSwDoSzF35dsfIqke4wDtrAv0QzFKU8BtskPQfR1EnB9PSR1yy6Iuc7HeVods33oy2XeyuH13sdIKVyfypp/s1600/FOOLE.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYzyBaqHJOs3swyg2muehUnuZT7PsMO43xUnFYSNiXYaf4pZy6jU0kvDbYGSwDoSzF35dsfIqke4wDtrAv0QzFKU8BtskPQfR1EnB9PSR1yy6Iuc7HeVods33oy2XeyuH13sdIKVyfypp/s1600/FOOLE.JPG" width="191" /></a></div>
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<b>A Stupendous Rumour</b></div>
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I always wanted to be a stupendous person, you know ?</div>
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Bold but not Arrogant</div>
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Enigmatic yet Approachable</div>
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Insistent but not Presumptuous</div>
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Irreverent but not Slipshod</div>
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Boisterous yet Eloquent</div>
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Brisk yet Self-Assured</div>
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Charismatic yet Aloof</div>
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Pragmatic yet Defiant</div>
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Ignoble yet Luminous</div>
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Bad yet Good</div>
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(in a word : stupendous.)</div>
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* * * * *</div>
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Happy April Foole's Day to All !</div>
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dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-37385549653799832412015-02-01T04:59:00.000-08:002015-12-07T04:10:07.024-08:00zen baka in Kyoto<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Rippling pool reflections in Japan...<br />
<br />
<i><u style="font-weight: bold;">Kikoku-tei</u></i><br />
zen garden<br />
<br />
<b>equipoise </b><br />
like the shadow of a stone - moves<br />
under the sun<br />
fix'd at the centre<br />
sweeping the day along...<br />
<br />
<i>'hanatsu kireini' </i><br />
(radiate clarity)<br />
like night fire on a hilltop<br />
<br />
<i>'kaze'</i><br />
the wind swirling around...<br />
<br />
- present like the moon.<br />
<br />
<b>adventurous charismatic equilibrium</b><br />
the vacuum has a stillness pour'd into it --<br />
the open space that people need<br />
to recognise the invisible.<br />
the mask fulfils the hidden secret longing --<br />
where public individuality gels<br />
into a quiet harmony.<br />
<br /></div>
dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-28890992630631457782014-11-28T03:18:00.002-08:002015-02-03T05:43:24.908-08:00 the zen fool<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<u><b><br /></b></u>
<u><b><br /></b></u>
<u><b>Foolish Paths to Wisdom</b></u><br />
<br />
<br />
...to Be...<br />
<br />
<i>"To be or not to be - that is the question."</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>* * * * *</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
...to Have...<br />
<br />
<i>"To do without is to have and to become."</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>* * * * *</i><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
...to Wait...<br />
<br />
<i>"To wait is to transcend time."</i><br />
<br />
* * * * *<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>"Zen and a Sense of Humour</i><br />
<i>are as inseparable</i><br />
<i>as Patience and Wisdom."</i><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-50004978610783746472014-08-05T22:54:00.005-07:002014-12-26T04:03:51.827-08:00Green Tea & Zen Baka<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"Green Tea and Zen Baka is simple and slow, and proves a delightful, pleasing contrast to the frenzy of the Fringe."</div>
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Eric Karoulla, The Skinny</div>
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5 August 2014</div>
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<a href="http://www.theskinny.co.uk/fringe/308547-green_tea_zen_baka_dance_base" target="_blank">Full text</a></div>
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"The human connection is surprisingly touching, and the entire experience blissfully calm."</div>
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Kelly Apter, The Scotsman</div>
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5 August 2014</div>
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<a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2014/08/05/dance-base-review-round-up/" target="_blank">Full text</a></div>
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"Traditional Japanese Butoh gentle movement beautifully blends with meditation in this memorably tranquil work, the surprise finale quietly satisfying." <i> </i></div>
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Brian Cooper, The Stage</div>
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10 August 2014</div>
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<a href="http://www.thestage.co.uk/edinburgh-reviews/72856/" target="_blank">Full text</a></div>
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<i> </i> </div>
<div>
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dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-90246005546579632802014-04-01T00:13:00.002-07:002014-12-18T02:44:17.586-08:00Foole's Day<div style="text-align: center;">
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<i>adrift... </i><br />
<i>upon a deep blue sea</i><br />
<i>in the hyphen between</i><br />
<i>super-natural</i><br />
<i>and</i><br />
<i>extra-ordinary</i><br />
<i>we are in limbo</i>
<i><br /></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Zen Baka</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i>
The genesis of <i>Zen Baka </i>(fool)<br />
began with a zen mime performance called : <i>11 <b>O</b>s</i>...<br />
about a calligraphy artist who makes eleven attempts<br />
to draw a perfect circle.<br />
This work was first performed at a zen meditation centre in Edinburgh<br />
and was later featured in the <i>Tanabata </i>Japanese<i> </i>Festival at the Scottish Museum.<br />
<i><br /></i>
Also about this time I was doing zen mime, <i>funambula</i>,<br />
on the streets during the Edinburgh Festival.<br />
<i><br /></i>
Both pieces went down well with audiences,<br />
who tended to like, or perhaps wonder at, the extremely simplicity<br />
and minimalism of their content and style.<br />
<br />
So a collection of works have been created in this zen-like vein :<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>awkward travel</i><br />
<br />
<i>aqua - objet d'art</i><br />
<br />
<i>the stone jazz daydream</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>take it easy</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>arboreal</i><br />
<br />
<i>skuba</i><br />
<br />
All of these works are now encompassed under the title :<br />
<br />
<i>Zen Baka.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i></div>
dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-82456367669932500032014-03-31T20:04:00.000-07:002014-05-23T05:20:22.469-07:00Dance Base Festival <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-size: 22pt; line-height: 115%;">Zen Baka<u><o:p></o:p></u></span></b></div>
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At the EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE, 2014</div>
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After a performance of <i>daydream</i> at Dance Base in Edinburgh,<br />
<i>Know The Score</i>, curated by Charlotte Jarvis,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I mentioned to the Artistic Director Morag Deyes</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
that I was travelling to Kyoto, Japan in the autumn of 2014</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
with a view to performing some of these pieces there.</div>
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<br /></div>
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They invited me to be part of the Dance Base Festival in August.</div>
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<br />
<b>Green Tea & Zen Baka</b></div>
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Ease into your Festival day in the garden with a refreshing cup of green tea</div>
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and a mesmerising zen-inspired performance</div>
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by minimalist performer David W W Johnstone.</div>
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This visual haiku draws on ideas from Japanese Butoh, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
the Zen Buddhist sages and John Cage...</div>
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with a gentle hint of mime and humour thrown in.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A quietly understated insight into the daydreaming mind</div>
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of a zen fool.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
1 - 24 August, 2014 (Not Mondays: 4, 11, 18) <br />
Edinburgh Festival Fringe</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
10.15 - 10.45 a.m. daily</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Free, but ticketed.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Dance Base</b>, Grassmarket, Edinburgh</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<br /></div>
dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-60089121966036354882013-11-18T00:32:00.000-08:002014-12-18T02:43:15.080-08:00zen baka <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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David appears as his mime-fool alter-ego,<b> Limbo</b>,</div>
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in new solo works in a series of short pieces</div>
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under the title of</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>zen baka</b></span></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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created for his upcoming visit to Japan.</div>
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New works in the collection :</div>
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<b>awkward travel </b>: awaiting a lover's arrival</div>
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<b>daydream </b>: memories, hopes, alternate universes</div>
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<b>stone </b>: meditation & contemplation on a smooth white fact</div>
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<b>take it easy </b>: falling leaves learn survival skills</div>
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<b>O<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b>: a zen calligraphy master draws a perfect circle</div>
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<b>skuba </b>: anagram 'a busk' in musical silence</div>
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-- a state of <i>shibumi </i>is understood.</div>
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* * *</div>
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<i><u>KNOW THE SCORE</u></i></div>
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Dance Base Performance Platform</div>
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Curator : Morag Deyes, Co-Curator : Charlotte Jarvis</div>
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Saturday, 23 November at 8 p.m.<br />
(Bar opens 7 p.m.)</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Dance Base, Grassmarket, Edinburgh</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
0131 225 5525</div>
dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-44812821840614430042013-06-13T05:06:00.000-07:002014-12-18T02:46:04.732-08:00Qx : A Quixotic Rhapsody<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b> </b></span><br />
<i>'LAZZI actor, director, writer David WW Johnstone plugs us into the terminals of madness with an absolutely riveting performance in his revisitation of Cervantes' classic.'</i><i> </i><br />
- Chrys Salt, Convener of the Dumfries and Galloway Festival, June 2013.<br />
<br />
Performance on the Edinburgh ragged fringe will be at The Scottish Poetry Library, Sunday 4 August - 3 pm.dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-85975708442362670672012-09-14T01:00:00.003-07:002013-10-15T04:43:40.842-07:00In the works...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSIFHwv7puhwP_cBRGjN2NmE41N7YY9v7H2KNoO9fSAfSiZD4YrE7yuzQYKdMjC2EkxT_0KBl7xQICraFppnUiPpZY-W_981Q_7AtKLtBY2VBSrJw2kvgNnOHdPpLMuesI1s9AXI3xRg8t/s1600/image+Qx.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSIFHwv7puhwP_cBRGjN2NmE41N7YY9v7H2KNoO9fSAfSiZD4YrE7yuzQYKdMjC2EkxT_0KBl7xQICraFppnUiPpZY-W_981Q_7AtKLtBY2VBSrJw2kvgNnOHdPpLMuesI1s9AXI3xRg8t/s400/image+Qx.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Qx : a Quixotic Rapture !</b> <i>"The Hero is he who exalts Good... beyond Reality !"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"The Great Achievement, Sancho, is to lose one's Reason for no reason. For if you go truly mad for a good reason... then, you feel nothing. Find strength in your weakness."</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"I do not have to Win at this. I only have to Be it."</i><br />
<br />
<br />
Don Quixotedwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-91031883361813826922012-09-04T03:01:00.001-07:002012-09-04T03:26:45.852-07:00Lovely preview feature in the Chronicle:<br />
<div style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong>Man Booker Prizewinning author Ben Okri’s novella The Comic Destiny has been adapted for Hammersmith’s Riverside Studios. He tells Robert Cumber how it explores the nature of storytelling, and why there’s nothing better than a good walk to get the creative juices flowing.</strong></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHVXiANbVJ8OKRApkfJFZ2VIt5VVUmi0XJAeudNqQyjjbK14whKLWV14-y29w8D95h-fxnWMdkYafR43t2CiWCtWIzfN4JRgs43em4b5yoqIdbiY0KOvk5uWPFSrIR1lc3NJvm76HXLhYp/s1600/IMG_0213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHVXiANbVJ8OKRApkfJFZ2VIt5VVUmi0XJAeudNqQyjjbK14whKLWV14-y29w8D95h-fxnWMdkYafR43t2CiWCtWIzfN4JRgs43em4b5yoqIdbiY0KOvk5uWPFSrIR1lc3NJvm76HXLhYp/s320/IMG_0213.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">WHEN Ben Okri first set eyes on David Johnstone, at a book signing in Edinburgh, he knew he was the man to direct his surreal fable The Comic Destiny.</span></div>
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<span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The founder of experimental theatre company Lazzi was last in a long queue of fans but the Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Famished Road claims he instantly realised there was something different about him.</span></div>
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<span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“I looked at him and got a good feeling. I asked him to call me and that began a conversation, including a long walk in Hyde Park,” explains the Nigerian-born author, who lives in Little Venice.</span></div>
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<span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“I like his spirit. He seemed to be someone open to surprise and without a fixed view of what theatre should be. There was just something unusual about him.”</span></div>
<span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Three years later, Johnstone’s adaptation of the novella, from Okri’s short story collection Tales of Freedom, has just finished a successful run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe ahead of Tuesday’s opening at the Riverside Studios.</span></span></div>
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</span>
<br />
<div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Okri describes the story, of a young couple and an asylum escapee among other ‘afflicted’ characters, in their search for the same mysterious room, as one of the hardest he has ever had to write. He always thought it would make a good play but admits it was never going to be easy to adapt, which is why he had to find the right person for the job.</span></span></div>
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<div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“It was a forbidding task and David was intimidated by it at first because it’s not an easy text to pry</span><span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> open,” he says.</span></span></div>
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</span>
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<div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“It’s written very simply but it took me many, many years to write and people who have read it tend to find it difficult to grasp what’s going on.</span></span></div>
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</span>
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<span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Every piece of writing is a very intense process, but The Comic Destiny was one of the most fraught and long-lasting processes.</span></span></div>
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<div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“It was hard to let go (of the finished work).”</span></div>
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<span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Once Okri had chosen Johnstone, he was happy to leave him to his own devices and is delighted with the result, which he describes as a ‘meeting between two visions’.</span></div>
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<span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“It’s extraordinarily rich, strange, mysterious and full of energy. What you get is a different play every night, influenced by everything from the theatre of the absurd to Laurel and Hardy,” he says.</span></div>
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<span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Like most of Okri’s work, The Comic Destiny explores the roots of inspiration and creativity.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">He describes writing as being ‘woven’ into his life but admits the process of ‘releasing the possibility of an idea’ is far from easy.</span></div>
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<span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">While many authors claim physical work helps get the creative juices flowing, and the acclaimed Japanese author Haruki Marukami swears by running, Okri takes a more relaxed approach.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Long walks are a big part of the writing process for me. I couldn’'t think while running – that’s for athletes – but walking is just the right pace to allow thoughts to bubble to the surface,” he says.</span></div>
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<span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Comic Destiny is at Hammersmith’s Riverside Studios from Tuesday to Sunday, September 9. Tickets, priced £15 to £17, are available at www.riversidestudios.co.uk or from the box office on 020 8237 1111</span><br />
<span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span>
<span class="u68" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk/entertainments/theatre-london/2012/09/03/comic-destiny-brings-a-surreal-good-feeling-to-riverside-studios-82029-31757351/#ixzz25Ufg17d3" target="_blank">link to article online</a></span></div>
</span>dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-15804384225433022492012-09-04T02:56:00.000-07:002012-09-04T03:15:02.972-07:00a serpentine narrative that tantalisingly encrypts meaning...****<br />
<br />
An adaptation of Ben Okri's book 'The Comic Destiny', this show is a gritty experimental piece that confronts the turbulence of our world. The show flickers between the rehearsal process and the finished product to highlight the softening boundaries between actor and character. Indeed by displaying the effect characterisation and performance has upon them, the audience is forced to feel similarly affected. Consequently the play has a serpentine narrative that tantalisingly encrypts meaning. The acting was faultless and utterly convincing, particularly David Johnstone's presentation of a bipolar lunatic that alters between timidity and wickedness. The philosophical subject matter is at times a little exhausting but only because of its sheer profundity and depth.<br />
<br />
tw rating 4/5 [Paige Wilson]<br />
<br />
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<em style="list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.threeweeks.co.uk/article/ed2012-theatre-review-ben-okris-the-comic-destiny-lazzi/" target="_blank">www.threeweeks.co.uk</a></em></div>
dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-26233095449265366462012-09-04T02:53:00.001-07:002012-09-04T03:05:39.261-07:00Some press snippets on The Comic Destiny<br />
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'smashing performances... innovative… arresting but
oblique... beautifully lit... <i>The
Scotsman<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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'acting power and a boldness of experimentation that is
seriously impressive'<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span><i>Broadway Baby</i><o:p></o:p><br />
<i><br /></i>
'the play has a serpentine narrative that tantalisingly encrypts meaning. The acting was faultless and utterly convincing' <i>Three Weeks</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<br />dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-69933153139464733182012-09-04T02:50:00.001-07:002012-09-04T03:25:09.565-07:00Lazzi take The Comic Destiny to Riverside Studios, London<b style="line-height: 115%;">Lazzi presents Ben Okri’s The Comic Destiny</b><br />
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<b>Press release</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Riverside Studios, London<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tuesday
4 – Sunday 9 September 2012 7.30pm, mat at 2pm on Saturday<o:p></o:p></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
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Press
night Tuesday 4 September, with reception with Ben Okri<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFm1_f-SP5z7izOf9RuJLf8DWBAwNT_HX_9t7LBCAK_eUwFFsp1wRD2o7hJQDG2Y8tXm1GbbwjqZwyHLr2p2vCGEzML1pMJFNk9xo4mBAr7p3wB6nxhD12XvlQATuKEeU_l5TXU4bo3S4v/s1600/BenOkri.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFm1_f-SP5z7izOf9RuJLf8DWBAwNT_HX_9t7LBCAK_eUwFFsp1wRD2o7hJQDG2Y8tXm1GbbwjqZwyHLr2p2vCGEzML1pMJFNk9xo4mBAr7p3wB6nxhD12XvlQATuKEeU_l5TXU4bo3S4v/s200/BenOkri.jpg" width="135" /></a></div>
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<b><i>‘A truly extraordinary and rich, and wild, and fascinating production. I
am tempted to call it the theatre of risk.’</i></b> <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>- Ben Okri <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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(commenting on the opening performance at the Edinburgh Fringe)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Fresh from this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, Lazzi bring their production of
Ben Okri’s The Comic Destiny to Riverside Studios, London.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ben Okri’s story confronts the violence and the predatory nature of our world
through a cast of characters each with their own disturbing histories and
personalities. It is an intense, surreal piece with touches of dark humour
throughout: <i>‘…the play has a serpentine narrative that tantalisingly
encrypts meaning’</i> (Three Weeks). Edinburgh reviewers have particularly
noted the high standard of the acting in the piece and the experimental
approach of the company: <i>’acting power and a boldness of experimentation
that is seriously impressive'</i> (Broadway Baby), <i>'smashing performances… innovative’</i>
(The Scotsman), <i>‘the acting was faultless and utterly convincing’</i> (Three
Weeks).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ben Okri approached Director David WW Johnstone to adapt The Comic
Destiny in 2010. He was looking for a director prepared to take risks, for a
company that might bring a fresh insight to his piece. His original story has
been abridged for this adaptation, and despite the apparent improvisational
nature of the acting, all words spoken on stage are taken directly from his
text. No one performance is quite the same, and the process of adaptation
appears to happen afresh each night before the audience’s eyes. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Lazzi weave a variety of influences, drawn from Buster Keaton, Laurel
& Hardy, and commedia to Dada, Grotowski and Kantor, and bring elements of
all of these to Ben Okri’s abstract world of patriarchs, skeletons and imps,
asylum escapees and a young couple seeking more loving arguments.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Director David WW Johnstone says, ‘Lazzi likes to delve into the
rough and raw edges of theatre. Whether working with comedy or tragedy, I like
to ask the audience to experience a courageous experiment on the part of the
performers. Our piece starts with the actors themselves gathering to rehearse.
How will they adapt and interpret the text? I wanted Lazzi to take Ben Okri’s
story and show how the borderline between actor and character can dissolve in
unexpected ways. The characters of the piece can be gloriously oblivious to our
attempts to restrain them – the process of adaptation itself must be released
into their hands. Further insight was gained from comparing the relentless
suffering in the myth of Sisyphus, where he is forced to roll a stone up a hill
only for it to endlessly fall back down, with the film of Laurel & Hardy
attempting to deliver a piano and having to push it up endless steps, with the
inevitable comic consequences (<a href="http://youtu.be/UWm0nXJYLmk"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">http://youtu.be/UWm0nXJYLmk</span></a>). Both have a futility, yet one torments
us, the other makes us laugh. Both speak of the human condition – and slapstick
is a somewhat violent art. Navigating the line between pessimism and optimism
is a fragile path and our piece explores this human dilemma.’<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ben Okri will be present at the opening, and at an after-show reception.
Both Ben Okri and David WW Johnstone are available for interviews relating to
this project. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Comic Destiny is a novella from <i>Tales of
Freedom</i>, by Ben Okri, published by Rider Books (Random House) in 2009.</span></div>
dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-12976159503172429062012-08-12T09:47:00.000-07:002012-08-12T10:04:59.882-07:00Thinking about Laurel & Hardy and other things<br />
A few introductory thoughts from Director David WW Johnstone about Lazzi's adaptation of <b style="font-style: italic;">The Comic Destiny</b>...<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Lazzi likes to delve into the rough and raw edges of theatre. Whether working with comedy or tragedy, I like to ask the audience to experience a courageous experiment on the part of the performers. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Our piece starts with the actors themselves gathering to rehearse. How will they adapt and interpret the text? I wanted Lazzi to take Ben Okri’s story and show how the borderline between actor and character can dissolve in unexpected ways. The characters of the piece can be gloriously oblivious to our attempts to restrain them – the process of adaptation itself must be released into their hands. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Ben Okri’s story The Comic Destiny confronts the violence and the predatory nature of our world through a cast of characters each with their own disturbing histories and personalities. Lazzi needed to find a way to approach this unsettling text – why and how might a company fond of commedia do this? Some insight was gained from comparing the relentless suffering in the myth of Sisyphus, where he is forced to roll a stone up a hill only for it to endlessly fall back down, with the film of Laurel & Hardy attempting to deliver a piano and having to push it up endless steps, with the inevitable comic consequences. Both have a futility, yet one torments us, the other makes us laugh. Both speak of the human condition – they are surreal and absurd... and slapstick is a somewhat violent art. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Like the characters in the story we are all looking for a special place where we can start afresh - although often just as we discover it we realise it too is about to be torn down. Navigating the line between pessimism and optimism is a fragile path.</blockquote>
<br />
If you haven't seen Laurel & Hardy with that piano... here it is... enjoy!:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UWm0nXJYLmk?rel=0" width="480"></iframe>
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<br /></div>dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-42140838241599911412012-08-10T04:06:00.001-07:002012-08-12T09:49:18.383-07:00Dead Souls - 'spontaneous and alive'<div class="separator tr_bq" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our Edinburgh Fringe mini-run of Dead Souls is gathering some lovely feedback and very nice reviews.<br />
<br />
Two shows now remaining at the <a href="http://www.scotlandrussiaforum.org/events.html" target="_blank">Scotland Russia Forum</a><br />
<i>Friday 10 August 7.30pm and Saturday 11 August 2pm<br />Scotland-Russia Institute, 9 South College Street, Edinburgh EH8 9AA</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h4>
<b>Here's The List Magazine's **** review: </b></h4>
<br />
<blockquote>
<b>David Johnstone celebrates Gogol’s masterpiece in his single actor adaptation </b>Adapting a novel for the stage is always a challenge; especially so when, like Gogol’s Dead Souls, the focus lies in the psychology of characters rather than the action. In this case there is a big risk of making the adaptation either shallow or boring. However, David Johnstone from LAZZI art unit was brave enough to take the risk. The result is his one-man show in which he skilfully combines scenes from the novel with the writer’s diaries, resulting in a heartfelt and passionate monologue about Russia and its future.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
The actor, Robert Williamson, shows wonderful powers of transformation, turning from Chichikov into Korobochka and from Korobochka - into Gogol himself in an instant. He manages to maintain high energy and a connection with the public throughout the hour-long show, thus keeping them constantly alert, wondering: which character will appear on stage next? Who will he speak to now? Will he scream? Laugh? Stand up and run out of the venue? (and yes he did...)</blockquote>
<blockquote>
The intimate settings of Scotland-Russia Institute allow Williamson to physically interact with the audience, drawing them into Gogol’s world and transforming them into peasants, coachmen or landlords at the ball. These interactions make the performance truly unique every time, as Williamson has to react to the responses he gets. This is, partly, what makes the show feel so spontaneous and alive.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
A member of the audience wrote on the LAZZI website later: ‘The passion, intelligence, quicksilver humour and Keaton-esque physicality of the performance are utterly un-British and make the almost hour-long show feel like 15 minutes.’ This is what is particularly striking about the adaptation: remarkably, being created and performed in Edinburgh, it feels as Russian as the original novel.<br />
<a href="http://www.list.co.uk/article/44303-dead-souls/">http://www.list.co.uk/article/44303-dead-souls/</a></blockquote>
<h4>
And here's The Skinny's **** review:</h4>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A lively adaptation (in English) by David W W Johnstone of Gogol's masterpiece, as well as extracts from Gogol's writings about the work skilfully woven together. This production is a gem for Russophiles or anyone who loves physical theatre.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Robert Williamson is a versatile actor who plays all the characters with charm and verve: Chichikov, the scoundrel who buys dead souls, the various land-owners and Gogol himself, even involving the audience as bit players. Wearing a waistcoat over a white shirt, the only props he needs are a handkerchief for emotional moments, a notebook listing his bought dead souls, and a chair acting as his carriage, to conjure a world of bumpy roads across the vast tundra to crumbling estates owned by mean millionaire landowners (who make their serfs share only one pair of boots between them), or elegant soirées in St Petersburg, kowtowing to His Excellency, or an account of how the famous Chapter 6 was written in a noisy bar, singing as he writes, then bursting into hand-claps and stamping in Russian dance. The political message that the Russian soul needs to be free is lightly slipped in, but clearly this remains a tale suited to our times. <a href="http://www.theskinny.co.uk/theatre/reviews/302608-dead_souls_scotlandrussia_institute">http://www.theskinny.co.uk/theatre/reviews/302608-dead_souls_scotlandrussia_institute</a></blockquote>dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-30345209130484785832012-06-02T05:42:00.001-07:002012-11-20T23:32:16.262-08:00Ben Okri’s The Comic Destiny<br />
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<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Scottish Storytelling Centre</b></div>
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<b>Edinburgh Festival Fringe </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Tuesday 14 – Sunday 26 August 2012</b></div>
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<b>Lazzi bring their adaptation of Booker Prize winning author Ben Okri’s The Comic Destiny to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, followed by a London run at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lazzi Artistic Director David W W Johnstone’s new adaptation takes Ben Okri’s surreal fable – a world of patriarchs, skeletons and imps, asylum escapees and a young couple seeking more loving arguments – and uses it to explore the nature of storytelling and creative inspiration.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Highlights</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Major international author Ben Okri has chosen to work with the relatively unknown yet acclaimed experimental company Lazzi. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ben Okri will be present at the opening, and at an after-show reception. He will also be available for interview about this project. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lazzi will join Ben Okri on stage at the Edinburgh International Book Festival at 12pm on Tuesday, 21 August. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The production has already secured a post-Fringe London run at Riverside Studios. </span></li>
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<b>The Edinburgh-based Lazzi company</b> is dedicated to bold experimentation and a highly improvisational style. Lazzi has gained a reputation for innovation with its striking and original theatre work. Previous productions include <i>Witkacy Idiota</i> (2005), and <i>Oresteia</i> (2008). Lazzi bring their trademark zany yet soulful humour to Ben Okri’s abstract story, weaving a variety of influences, drawn from Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy to Dada, Grotowski and Kantor. With their ability to embrace the surreal with an affectionate lightness, Lazzi are well-placed to interpret Ben Okri's strange story for the stage. The production is staged with a simplicity typical of Lazzi: minimal yet beautiful lighting and a bare stage, with a cast of three actors, in the intimate space of Scotland's premier year-round storytelling venue at the Netherbow.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Director David W W Johnstone</b> says, ‘Lazzi likes to delve into the rough and raw edges of theatre. Whether working with comedy or tragedy, I like to ask the audience to experience a courageous experiment on the part of the performers. When Ben Okri approached me to think about adapting his piece for the stage I took a long time to work out how to go about it. Then I realised what the piece was about – for me – it was about the source of creative vision. What does it mean to create? What is it that holds us back? Are we trapped in our own methods? I wanted Lazzi to take Ben’s piece and show how the borderline between actor and character can dissolve in unexpected ways. The characters of the piece are gloriously oblivious to our attempts to restrain them – the process of adaptation itself must be released into their hands.’</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Expect a little chaos and lots of soul, as Lazzi lovingly takes on the characters of Ben Okri’s imagination.</span></div>
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<b>Previous productions:</b></div>
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<b>Oresteia</b></div>
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<i>‘...the performance has a physical, aural and visual intensity that burns itself onto the mind. …one of the most compelling and haunting pieces of theatre created in Scotland this past year’ Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman</i></div>
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<i>‘...intense, demanding and quite possibly the most adventurous and unique piece of theatre ever seen in Cumbernauld.’ The Herald</i></div>
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<b>Witkacy Idiota</b></div>
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<i>'…it’s a sheer joy to come across a performance so sweetly, confidently and unashamedly absurdist as this fine 70-minute tribute to the life and work of the troubled Polish artist, playwright and thinker, Stanislaw Witkiewicz. … a simple but surprisingly beautiful-looking show that makes powerful use of coloured light, shadow and movement.' Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Lazzi</b> is based in Edinburgh. It operates as a form of arts lab drawing performers from different disciplines. Working on <i>The Comic Destiny</i> project are </span>dancer Charlotte Jarvis, who featured in Lazzi's <i>Aurora Borealis</i> (Dancebase, 2008) and <span style="font-family: inherit;">actor Robert Williamson who stars in Lazzi's recent adaptation of Gogol's <i>Dead Souls</i> (2012).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>David W W Johnstone</b> is the founder and artistic director of Lazzi. He was the protégé of legendary Polish actor/director Leonidas Dudarew-Ossetynski, and through this connection he also studied with Ryszard Cieslak, leading actor with Grotowski’s theatre. Other work ensued with Georges Bigot and Ariane Mnouchkine of Le Theatre du Soleil in Paris. He was born in Washington State, USA, and has lived in Scotland since 1991.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Ben Okri</b> has published 10 novels, including the Booker Prize winning <i>The Famished Road</i>, as well as collections of poetry, short stories and essays. His work has been translated into more than 20 languages. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has been awarded the OBE as well as numerous international prizes, including the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Africa, the Aga Khan Prize for Fiction and the Chianti Rufino-Antico Fattore. He is a Vice-President of the English Centre of International PEN and was presented with a Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum. He was born in Nigeria and lives in London. Ben Okri’s latest collection of essays, <i>A Time for New Dreams</i> is published by Random House. </span><a href="http://benokri.co.uk/">http://benokri.co.uk/</a></div>
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<b style="font-family: inherit;">The Comic Destiny</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> is a story from <i>Tales of Freedom</i>, by Ben Okri, published by Rider Books in 2009.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Both David W W Johnstone and Ben Okri are available for interviews relating to this project.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Scottish Storytelling Centre</b> is the world’s first purpose-built centre for storytelling, right on the Royal Mile. The award-winning Netherbow Theatre and Storytelling Court spaces host live storytelling, literature, theatre, children’s and visual arts events.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Riverside Studios</b> aims to be London’s pre-eminent space for risk, inspiration and creativity in the arts and media, in a setting which is energetic, internationalist and friendly. It is a unique arts and media centre on the banks of the Thames in Hammersmith, comprising two main performance studios, a cinema, a TV studio and production galleries, numerous offices and a large contemporary Restaurant and Bar, a Film Cafe and River Terrace. The theatre programme presents a mix of co-productions and international visiting work, often at the cutting edge of performance.</span></div>
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<b>Performance dates and times:</b></div>
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<b>Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2012</b></div>
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<b>Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Netherbow, 43-45 High Street, EH1 1SR3</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tuesday 14 – Sunday 26 August, 7pm (75mins) £10/£8 </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tickets and information 0131 556 9579</span><br />
<a href="http://www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk/</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Opening night post-show reception, with Ben Okri, Tuesday 14 August 8.30pm</span><br />
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For ages 12+<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Edinburgh Festival Fringe Box Office</span> +44 (0)131 226 0000<br />
<a href="http://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/theatre/ben-okri-s-the-comic-destiny">http://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/theatre/ben-okri-s-the-comic-destiny</a> </div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lazzi will also join Ben Okri on stage at the </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">Edinburgh International Book Festival</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> at 12pm on Tuesday, 21 August.</span><br />
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<b>Riverside Studios, London </b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Crisp Road, Hammersmith, London W6 9RL</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tuesday 4 September – Sunday 9 September, 7.30pm (75mins) £17/£15</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Matinees at 2pm on Wednesday & Saturday</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tickets and information 020 8237 1111</span><br />
<a href="http://www.riversidestudios.co.uk/cgi-bin/page.pl?l=1338558255">http://www.riversidestudios.co.uk/cgi-bin/page.pl?l=1338558255</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.riversidestudios.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://www.riversidestudios.co.uk/</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Opening night post-show reception, with Ben Okri, Tuesday 4 September 9pm</span></div>
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<b>Lazzi contacts:</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">David WW Johnstone </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">0131 447 3077 / 07837978379</span></div>
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<a href="mailto:dwwjlazzi@btinternet.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;">dwwjlazzi @ btinternet.com</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://lazzi-arts.blogspot.co.uk/">http://lazzi-arts.blogspot.co.uk/</a></span><br />
@lazziarts</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Image</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Alice Boyle <a href="http://www.aliceboyle.co.uk/">http://www.aliceboyle.co.uk</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Image of Ben Okri <a href="http://www.darrenfilkins.com/">http://www.darrenfilkins.com</a> </span></div>
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dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745906394682570357.post-36267548075481182252012-05-20T06:12:00.001-07:002012-05-21T07:24:19.366-07:00Ben Okri's The Comic Destiny<br />
LAZZI's new production of <i style="font-weight: bold;">Ben Okri's The Comic Destiny </i>is soon to go on sale...<br />
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at both The Scottish Storytelling Centre, Netherbow Theatre for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe<br />
and Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London.<br />
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Also, we'll be making a short appearance with Ben at the Edinburgh Book Festival<br />
Tuesday, 21 August at 12 noon.<br />
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Our production of Ben Okri's surreal fable is a dreamlike fantasy<br />
populated by imps, tyrants, schizophrenics and lovers.<br />
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<i>The Comic Destiny </i>appears in Ben's book <u>Tales Of Freedom</u>, Rider Books, 2009.<br />
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Stage adaptation and direction by David W W Johnstone<br />
and featuring actors Charlotte Jarvis and Robert Williamson.<br />
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Edinburgh run is 14 - 26 August 2012 nightly at 7 pm.<br />
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London run opens 4 September 2012 nightly at 7.30 pm<br />
with matinees on Wednesday and Saturday at 2 pm.dwwjohnstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02261075301127949863noreply@blogger.com