I Ain’t Gonna Tell You

 Harare, August 10th 2013 | Julia A. Wharton

Several times in ‘Radio Golf’ the character of Old Joe responds to a question with, “I ain’t gonna tell you.” They sound like simple enough questions that could have simple answers but Old Joe sees the depth and complexity in everything so there are no simple answers. As I consider writing about the ‘Radio Golf’ staged reading process I can hear a simple question – so, how did it go? And part of me wants to answer, “I ain’t gonna tell you” because there is so much to say! It was such a quick but complex journey - an express train ride through multiple cultures, challenging language and a wide range of acting experience.

The process began, of course, with the audition. Turn out for the audition was small - adequate but not robust. We saw a few strong actors – tried and true artists I have worked with before - and a number of newcomers, some with experience, some without. Because Almasi is eager to develop and train theater practitioners, I did not want to get on the phone and start calling people who had not come to the audition and offer them parts. So casting was done from the audition which meant that I had a cast of widely varying experience levels. This added a layer of challenge to the work but it kept Almasi true to one of its primary principles. In a debriefing session a couple of days after the performance the actors all said that they felt like a family during our brief but intense 6 day rehearsal period. They said they did not feel competitive with one another and this could well be in part due to the mixed actor training levels. The less experienced actors learned a great deal working with their more seasoned fellow cast members. The experienced actors gained fresh perspectives working with newcomers. 

Day one and part of day two were devoted to a first read through of the play and then a page by page background briefing. A first, straight through, out loud reading was essential as not all actors had a copy of the script until day one. That might seem unthinkable in the context of some theater cultures. But the reality on the ground in Zimbabwe is that most everything must be seen through the lens of cost. Transportation is significantly expensive for the vast majority of people – so even something simple like picking up or delivering scripts is a financial burden. (Old Joe would say, “I ain’t gonna pick up my script.”!) Consequently, we all needed to hear the voices and the story of the play without the distraction of stopping and starting for questions/problems/side bars. 

From there, we moved on to the page by page investigative reading. I was prepared with pages of research I had done on August Wilson, the time and place setting, the many references in the play and the different themes/issues/conflicts. I had tried to foresee which words and expressions would be unfamiliar. As we slowly took one page at a time, the actors at first seemed surprised by all the information, perhaps even a little impatient. But little by little I saw their curiosity and enthusiasm take hold. They ‘got’ the world of ‘Radio Golf’ and discovered deep and important connections with a setting they had thought was far removed from their own lives. 

The world of ‘Radio Golf’ was quite foreign to me, too! I, of course, had a leg up. The American English words and expressions and the African American battle for equal rights are part of my culture. BUT, the RG language is not my language. The city and the neighborhood are not part of my personal experience. So I felt I was a translator who did not fully belong to either culture I was translating for. Great mental and creative exercise! And probably made me work extra hard to do my homework, to strive extra vigilantly to find ways to close the culture gaps. It was hard work for the actors, too. Zimbabwean theatre heavily favors Zimbabwean experiences. That is to be expected and is true of every culture. But because of politics, Zimbabwe has also been quite isolated for some years now and artists don’t enjoy frequent or regular opportunities to connect with foreign artists. These RG actors were stretching muscles they don’t often have to use. And there was no doubt that as the cast got deeper into the meaning of the RG characters’ stories and relationships and goals and disappointments, the culture gaps closed up. 

I think I expected that the immense identity conflict that Wilson packs into the play would be the largest cultural divide for me and for the Zimbabwean actors – the African American struggle to balance past, present and future is not something I will ever fully get inside. It is not the same struggle that Zimbabweans have faced. But ‘Radio Golf’ helped me realize that the African American grappling with identity includes reconciling the past - honoring suffering and sacrifice; navigating the present with all the lingering prejudice right alongside new opportunities; and riding progress into the future. And to varying degrees, this identity juggling act is a universal human challenge. 

We spent six five hour days in rehearsal and in hindsight we should have done 8 six to eight hour days. ‘Radio Golf’ is a beautifully written play and it is very word heavy. Fluency and confidence with the language would have been improved with more days of practice with the language. There would have been a more realistic amount of time to develop confidence with characterization after finding the language fluency. But I am so convinced that the staged reading process is exactly the right training tool for actors here right now. It immerses them in the text and demands slow and careful study of the playwright’s words. It trains them to construct their characters from inside the writing up and out into a 3D world. Further, it gives aspiring playwrights exposure to the stories, the styles and the techniques of plays that have staying power. 

The ‘Radio Golf’ staged reading process included a Stage Manager and a Director-in-Training. Both were important eyes and ears on the project and they represent an ever widening circle of contributors who will help carry the Almasi goals and training forward to future efforts. 

The audience at our performance was not quite as big as we would have liked. But it was extremely diverse and absolutely riveted to the play reading. Everyone stayed for the talk back session and we fielded very interesting questions and comments about everything from the extraordinary relevance of this foreign play to how to inject the right amount of movement in a reading. One audience member called the producer the next day just to say how much he had enjoyed it! 

So that’s the short answer to the question, “How did it go?” I ain’t gonna tell you the rest!