192. Theatre People

I was rather looking forward to this morning’s performance at our brand new village Theatre- yet without a name- because the play would be entirely in English and was wondering how Italian children would react to it. 

The theatre people who call themselves “The Play Group” are originally from Britain, though based here in Italy.  I say they are from Britain, and not England, because one of them is from Wales.  There are only three of them and yet when I saw them perform Treasure Island, they took on the semblance of a number of other characters too. 

During one show and another Two went to the local bar.

And another backstage with wife

On returning to the theatre the actors found themselves being followed by a long line of children, just as if they were the Piper of Hamelin.

It is not possible to check the excitement of children when they enter the theatre to see something that fires the imagination like “Treasure Island”.  They are full of expectant excitement waiting to be fulfilled and they were not met with disappointment.

There was quite an uproar before the show began and I was a little worried that the play would not be allowed to go on- such was the excitement.  But I needn’t have worried after the initial cries of oooh, ahhh, hooo when the lights went out and as the stage lit up, a sudden hush fell on the audience- complete silence.

 

They may not have understood every word of the clear resonating phrases, but it mattered not for the action kept them grasping onto every movement made before their eyes.  As each of the three actors took on the semblance of various characters the children had their eyes full trying to keep track of one thrill after another.  But the best part, I think, was when the pirates came among the audience to capture one or two of them in utter darkness.  Sorry, no pictures- indeed because of the dark.

                                     

What a pity so few schools have this opportunity with which to enthral children.  Theatre should be given a greater place in the education of today’s youth... That’s what you would think too if you saw what I saw today.  There are moments in one’s childhood that cannot be repeated and the thrill of the theatre is one of them.

if it wasn’t for the above gentleman, (with the camera) Danny Masutti and his magnificent team of volunteers, none of this would ever have been seen in Sarmede.

The Play 

Take hold of the stern and sail along with the Play Group through a breathtaking  adventure based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson: Treasure Island.

                                           

The young hero, Jim Hawkins finds a strange map and boards a ship for a most dangerous mission on Skeleton Island looking for the legendary gold.  The play ends with an astonishing battle against the loafing Long John Silver.

                                    

The show overflows with comical characters, bloodthirsty buccaneers, wooden legged pirates, down and out sailors... and a parrot gone crazy.  The atmosphere is incredible, the plot captivating and the action hilarious.

The actors chat about the play with the audience at the end

"The Play"

Translated from a caption in:

Visit the Playgroup Website

WestBow

Eva Ulian is a fan of

WestBow Press

Create your Fan Badge

191. To Be or Not to Be Self-Published

Fraternizing with the audience at our brand new village theatre- What would poets and dramatists do if there were no self-publishers?

“Who should self-publish?” that is the question asked by Chip MacGregor in his answer to Michael Hyatt’s blog on “Why Agents May Be Opposed to Self-Publishing” MacGregor’s answer was: “Only authors who can sell their books. Period.” True, since just putting a book on a shelf does not get it sold!

That sentence should be engraved on the mind of every, non-published, published, self or otherwise, would- be- published and any other kind of author possible because if YOU, yourself can’t sell your book, no one else will.  Gone are the days when the publisher with his connections, strategies and sponsorship could make or break a book- and in spite of many publisher’s denial, that goes for bad books too.  A “bad” book can become an extremely successful book- with the right kind of pushing.  Want an example?  Last Christmas but one, a former student of mine sent me a novel for Christmas, with this note: “This is what people like reading nowadays... We are sure you can write much better.” That book was “The Da Vinci Code”.  The authors of the forerunner, whose book was probably written far better, are buried in oblivion, so is their book.  The Da Vinci Code has merit. In English? Really? Take this sentence:

“Your grandfather gave you the key, but failed to give you the account number?”

If I wrote anything near such a phrase, what would you say?  You’d say that such simpleton repetition is insulting your intelligence, would you not?  What about this: “Jacques Saunière is dead?” he demanded, his eyes filling with horror. “But... How?!”  It’s so overdramatic it makes you want to laugh- but it’s not a joke- in fact it’s quite tragic that this is acclaimed as the crème de crème of English literature.  And I am not, by any means, the first to make such annotations on the book. 

Does it make any difference if this book makes millions while mine and yours don’t?  No, not a bit, it just proves my point that with the right kind of pushing- anything can sell. And that readers read what is made not only available for them to read, but also enticing.  That is also why published authors and the agents who got them published should not look down on authors who were barred from accessing a publisher- it doesn’t mean such authors are any better and above all no worse, than those who have been given access to publishers. Why has the stigma that to be a self-published author is to be a second class author, to say the least, been so firmly embedded in the publishing status quo?  You get agents all over the place and not just on Twitter that say “Do not try to deceive me by saying you are published when you are only self-published.”  As one agent puts it “In retrospect, I was surprised the Nelson folks did this so publicly, since most people in publishing look down on self-pubbing as the low-end, potentially seedy side of the business.”   

Another thing agents, authors say about publishers who have set up a self-publishing imprint is that this is the kind of letter they send to would be authors: "We've decided not to publish your book... but you may want to consider self-publishing with us."  Let me tell you I’ve never got such a letter probably because the Agent has never given me access to a publisher. Why have I not been given access? Because my kind of writing did not match the whims and likes of the Agent’s- since I don’t write about vampires, kitchen sink drama and the likes, I am cut off from 99.9% percent of agents reading beyond the dear so and so bit... and that’s just to make sure I had spelt their name right!

I’ve heard all kinds of accusations made against such publishers- that they are luring naive authors with the “farming” bit, with the distribution- even world wide- bit, with taking the author’s money and run, with inundating the author’s garage with thousands of unwanted books, that they are desecrating the name they bear.  However, there’s one thing I’ve not heard at all sounded in the air and that is, the money such publishers earn from the self-published authors is bunked together with the traditional branch- now that piece of news should have at least made quite a few bones rattle in the publishing world- and yet not a word.

So I shall say something about this: All you agents, published authors out there, it is time to stop moaning, it is time to stop calling self-published authors stupid because it will be thanks to the money I spend on publishing my book, that yours gets printed for free and it is my money that will get it sponsored and agents can sit back and reap the rewards.  There’s no justice!  I know. Justice will be done if and when I get to sell a heck lot more books than you ever will and I will get the same amount of royalty for 100 books sold that you would for 1,000.  So all you moaners out there who enjoy cat calling us “inferior” authors will one day have to find answers for these questions. Who is a second class author? Who is naive?  Who is mentally retarded?  A WestBow Author is, of course... is what you say today...  We’ll see.

Related articles:

155. Books are Like Baked Beans- Authors You Have Been Warned

130. For Writers and Readers: Questionnaire

Why Agents May Be Opposed to Self-Publishing

Responding to Self Publishing- Chip MacGregor

WestBow

Eva Ulian is a fan of

WestBow Press

Create your Fan Badge

190. A Theatre all of Our Own

The new theatre is like a dream come true for the village

The village Children’s Theatre began in 1987 where schools from all over the Veneto Region came to see theatre performances in our village held under a big tent with temporary toilets on the side and electric generators that would pack up at the most inconsiderate times. 

The new theatre

Waiting excited to go in

All that is over because now we have a theatre of our own thanks to the efforts of the Pro-Loco (a group of volunteers to act in an official capacity for the good of the town), The President of the Children’s Theatre Fair, Danny Masutti, a legacy left to us by some good soul that has now departed to a better world and the savings from the village children fairs held every year for the past twenty-two years. 

This is me making a rain check to see what the audience mood is like

So it is with great pride and joy that the village of Sarmede presents its first performances in the brand new theatre- a heritage for generations to come.

 Alberto De Bastiani presents his theatre show

This performance, executed with hand puppets  is about a flying rabbit, pursuits on the snow, bears that escape and flights into space.

The next performance 

The story begins with the familiar woeful tale of being sent to bed without supper since the “girlie” in question did not eat her vegetables.  There are talking cauliflowers, stinking beans, nosey carrots and weeping onions.  

A trial against vegetables is set up to see why they are so horrible.  It ends up that they are not that bad after all and a Feast Day for Vegetables is proclaimed. So everyone dances about happily with mums hoping kids will eat their vegetables from now on!

 A view from the “gods” as they would say in Shakespeare’s times

Related articles in e-zine: Taken from last year’s theatre fair
Children’s Theatre   

Hands on Puppets   

From Blog

26th International Children Books Illustration

27th International Children Books Illustration

Eva Ulian is a fan of

WestBow Press

Create your Fan Badge

189. Have Italians Forgotten They are Italian?

We cannot forget we are Italians and defend our heritage from those who want to destroy it

Last night I watched an interview on TNE – Padova, of the husband of the woman originally from Finland- just think, there is a blue Cross on her flag- who asked, or better, demanded for the removal of the Crucifix, and stated that he now expects the state, Italy, to implement the EU Court ruling and that the Crucifixes be removed from public places.  Right, so where do we start? The bell tower of St. Mark’s in Venice…?  Just think, their “children” are now adults, 19 and 23.  And even if the Crucifix can no longer cause damage and  “psychological disturbance” to their “children”, he still insists in the removal of the Crucifix.  I consider this as a strong form of provocation, mockery, a slap in the face of Italy, of the Italians and to me personally, given that I am pure red-blooded Italian.

Even if many forget and close an eye on such provocations, let alone mockery, I don’t forget I am Italian and therefore I have every right to say that removing the Crucifix from where it has been even long before Italy came into being as a nation, means taking away a large slice of the cultural heritage from  future generations of Italian people, because for us Italians, like the Irish, it is not possible to separate our faith from everyday life and Italian culture- this is just not negotiable for any reason on earth.

You can’t cut people in two: half state – half church

Only yesterday I read in the papers that a town near here, Cordignano, the headmaster of the local school forbade the children to go to the traditional religious celebration in honour of the dead during the war because three of the children were non-Christian.  And the others, the ones who have been baptized who at the end of their existence hope to be taken away in a coffin by a CONSECRATED priest to a HOLY burial ground must they give up such a hope and stay in the classroom, not practise one’s faith, be defrauded of the cultural heritage of their parents, those of their grandparents and those before them?  What levels have we reached to give up our own Italian identity?

The Church is a part of everyday life of every baptized person

The fact that other religions exist, other cultures in our schools does not mean that the Catholic children have to give up the Crucifix, the Mass, a visit from the local priest, if this is the case it is because someone in charge, for political reasons, want it to be so, not because it is not possible to manage a school where the rights of all cannot be respected.  There are thousands of faiths in Great Britain where I have taught for quite a while, even so one does not take away from one side to give in to the other.  Those who do not want to be subject to the British culture or take part in the celebrations of the Church of England, they do not take part, they do other things.  What does it take for a headmaster of any school here in Italy to place a teacher in charge of giving alternative education during the period where the other children are involved in the religious or cultural activities of one’s country or of the host country?  This goes on in other countries, are we here in Italy quite incapable of undertaking such a simple operation?

In no other country, does the Italian culture dominate, therefore the culture of no other country should dominate or diminish the Italian one.  In no other country would anyone go out of their way to take down the symbols of their religion or culture if there is a Christian present, therefore neither should we do it – it is the others from outside that are teaching us the rules, therefore we too should behave according and adopt them.

The faith is part and parcel of the cultural baggage of the Italian nation

However, one must reflect on the fact that there is out there in the world, groups of well organized societies that would see Europe stripped of her Christian roots.  Today it is the Crucifix that has to go, tomorrow the Mass, in a city in France they even had to abolish Christmas- but it serves them right because they did not fight hard enough to keep it and have allowed that foreigners take over- This is what happens when you allow the anti-clerical, the despots, the extreme leftists take control.  If you don’t want this to happen also in Italy, or in any country for that matter, you have to fight with all your might against such malignity.   

   

We were warned that the Anti-Christ would come- it seems he has well and truly come and taken up residence at the EU Court in Strasburg.

That is why the EU Court wastes tax payers’ money, and an awful lot at that, in futile matters, taking away the human rights of Christians instead of doing something worthwhile.  The EU Court needs to concern itself with the human rights of thousand and thousand of Christians in Holland who cry out that drugs and prostitution be taken off their streets – not for a simple whim – but because their children are the first victims whose life is prematurely snuffed out by such.

  

You can’t defraud future generations of the heritage of  their forefathers

188. The Crucifix: an Offence to Man

The European Court in Strasburg has ruled that the Crucifix is an offence to others not Christian- so we, Christians have to get rid of it!

This came about after someone has complained about the presence of a Crucifix in a classroom and the above is the response given.

 This is a church and a school- so what would they have to do in Africa?

This “offensive” symbol is the strength, comfort and hope of our soldiers.

You can’t destroy the heritage of a nation.

If I am someone who doesn’t want my child to see the Crucifix in a class, I take my child to a school where there are no Crucifixes- I don’t deprive other children who have inherited their precious faith to be without it.  Anyone with any common sense can see the logic in that- anyone but the European Court which has nothing better to do than mess about with the internal affairs of a country’s fundamental cultural inheritance.  All this at our, my expense, that of the tax payer- and the upkeep of the  European Court is extremely expensive.  Why doesn’t the court of Strasburg occupy itself more profitably by dealing with the drugs, prostitution, and illegal immigrant rackets that overcrowd our jails, since more than a third of prisoners are from outside Italy- instead of taking away the Christian/human Rights of Italians?

No country should be forced to give up one’s culture, history, tradition, heritance by the dictates of another- this is not justice, this is not democracy, this is despotism.

 The whole of Italy is full of such “offensive” reminders that the Son of God died on the Cross

The Court of Strasburg has declared that the image of Christ on the Cross is offensive and cannot be displayed as it causes psychological disturbance to others of not the same belief.  In that case I could also place my complaint to the Court because the image of the President of any state which hangs in public places and schools, including that of the Queen of England, must be removed since it causes psychological disturbance as I am not of that political credence! 

The Cross is placed in the centre of town during Holy Week- It should create psychological disturbance to more than a few.

You can’t go anywhere in Italy without bumping into a Christian symbol: churches, spires, bells, crosses, madonnas, saints, cemeteries.  The Cross of Christ in particular can be seen mingling among the aerials and satellite receivers- The whole of Italy is full of such “offensive” reminders that the Son of God died on the Cross, not for His sake or for one particular sector of mankind only. 

We take the Cross around the streets even if it is not Good Friday, we like to be “psychologically disturbed” by it!

Hence if such a sight causes psychological disturbances to some, then why did those people come to Italy where it is renown such is the tradition?  And why do they stay?  Why demand that the people of a particular country give up their heritage when they could well practise whatever other beliefs they have in their own country without breaking the balls of others? 

 

The next thing, Strasburg will be abolishing Christmas Nativity scenes because they too are offensive to some. And this is not a joke- it has already happened in one city in France! Human Rights? There aren’t any for Christians, back to the Dark Ages and Martyrdom it seems.

Look up high in the sky- in Italy you will find the Cross mingling with the aerials and satellite receivers

187. NYERERE: A Leader to be Proud of

An elderly person with one of the Italian Volunteers 

Our Missionary Priest

People do not consider themselves as poor, only those who have no family are poor

TANZANIA on the East coast between Kenya and Mozambique, is of all African States, the most fortunate; not because it does not share the same hardships as drought, lack of food and water but because it has not had to endure the worst of all plagues that afflict Africa, namely, civil war.

 People always give a gift to visitors- this elderly person is giving the Volunteer an implement to dig the earth that he has made himself. In Tazania the men too work, not like in other parts where the women work so men can engage in warfare

It is not by chance or coincidence that this is so, but because one man, one great man willed it so.  The man was the great African leader and the first Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere.  He became Tanzania’s first President in 1964 and voluntarily resigning from that office in 1985 at the relatively young age of 63: thus showing that such is the system of democracy and that he was not one to hold on to power at all costs, even at the expense of the lives of their own people which is common practise among most African leaders nowadays.

Water is precious but this is how you are welcomed, by washing your hands

This is the well dug with the funds raised by our parishes

People try to live as near as possible to a water source 

President Nyerere achieved the unity of his people by installing a way of life that was congenial to Africans, that of the ujamaa, or as we call it, the extended family- similar to what they had known as tribes, and would become a kind of village life based on social equals.  However, unlike tribes, being each one separate from the other, therefore causing friction, Nyerere  made it so that people could  integrate in this social setting and become a unity, by imposing a national language, Swahili.  

This is a school and church: The Stations of the Cross are painted on the wall above

The Top Class

School: The blackboard is a bark of wood, exercise books: the sand on the ground

However, coming to the West is to Africans coming to a dream world where all is obtained by magic.  Little are they aware that just as insects cannot survive on a sterile floor of a palace, an immigrant has to find somewhere to live and that costs money- money that he does not have.  He has to eat, clothe himself, travel,  and that costs money, and he can only get money by working.  But as work is scarce and in Italy, almost non-existent, thus, since he cannot insert himself legally in the capitalists rat race world, he ends up selling drugs, knocking old ladies over the head to steal their pensions, setting up prostitution markets... and so on... on to the way of perdition.

Baptism is made when olderConfirmation celebrations

Never mind if the church bell is the metal part of a car wheel

This the Africans must instil in their minds before leaving their country, where, by using the aid given to develop their land, there is a greater chance to feed and get fed and an infinitely much greater chance to love and be loved.  As Nyerene said:

Games

 “a nation which refuses to learn from foreign cultures is nothing but a nation of idiots and lunatics…[but] to learn from other cultures does not mean we should abandon our own.”

Games

Toys are home made

Therefore, by far better and noble thing to do is remain and develop one’s country; not having to surrender self-esteem, pride, honour, and honesty to moral squalor and the eventual prison cell in the West... A reminder, just in case this appears an exaggeration: one third of prisoners in Italy are mainly from Africa.   Don't let this happen to your son.

A baby being weighed at a Clinic

Market once a month for those things that cannot be got in the village

European Volunteers at the market

and the local football team

The Wonders of Africa

Remain FREE- in Africa

Satan does not want the Kingdom to Come

Zimbabwe opens the door to foreign agression

Zimbabwe adding insult to injury

186. 27th International Children Books Illustration

The 27^th International Children Books Illustration Exhibition opened its doors last Saturday at  Sarmede gathering the usual crowd of fans and supporters from various parts of the country.  In my blog last year, see link below, I introduced the people involved in this exhibition, all local people from this village, however I did not introduce the town’s alderman for cultural activities- which I will remedy by posting photo below.

Majer Levis: Alderman (cultural activities)

The Exhibition is held in the Town Hall of the village which has permanent mural illustrations done by the artists at different stages in the formation of this event. 

Such illustrations are also protracted unto the walls around the village.  Sarmede has claim to the title of “The Fairy Tale Village”.

This year’s guest artist EMILIO URBERUAGA from Madrid signs children books he has illustrated. 

This little lady has found someone to talk to

All illustrations are the originals that have been published to illustrate children’s books, some translated in various languages.  We keep a stock of them in our bookstore and are sold during the period of the exhibition which closes on 5 December. 

Alongside the Exhibition we have theatre productions attended by children from a wide spectrum of schools around the area and beyond, which entertain and enlighten children of all ages.  

There are also craft laboratories scattered around the village where children can make objects in keeping with each year’s theme and alternate with the theatre show, thus making it a day’s school outing to remember. 

 The last Sunday of November and the first one of December, the village closes all its entrances and becomes a “Fairy Tale Village” visited by thousands of children and adults alike... Even if it is raining.

Some of this year’s illustrations

This year’s fairy tale village theme is divided into three aspects: Tales & Fables, Environment & Nature, News & Current Affairs. 

114. 26° International Children Books Illustration

Dogs and Cats

E-zine: edition 1&2