With KS Barbara Dobrzanska

On Thursday, during the general dress rehearsal of The Passenger, I met Sofia Posmysz for the first time. I was chatting with a friend and colleague in the corridor near the door to the stage during the interval, before my scenes, when she came through the door with the head dramaturg and her translator. The dramaturg introduced me as Tadeusz. I stumbled over words and said something rather inane like ‘nice to meet you’ as she said something in polish. Then, in german she simply said ‘my Tadeusz was older’. I’d been thinking about responsibility at having to represent someone, a real person, on stage, but this simple statement by Frau Posmysz hit me with the weight of that responsibility; it was her story, and the story of the real Tadeusz who gave her a silver pendant with the face of Christ.

At that point she saw the word ‘nein’ (no) which was stamped on my colleague’s arm*- a symbolic branding which takes places in the first act. She pointed to it, and then rolled up her sleeve and showed us her number, tattooed in green onto her left forearm. ‘This is my nein’, she said.

—

My character, Tadeusz, is ordered to play the SS Commander’s favourite walz on a violin, and instead, as an act of protest, he plays the Chaccone by Bach. In our stylised production, instead of miming, the chaconne is played by the entire violin section in the pit, and Tadeusz holds up an empty violin case, invoking imagery of Moses and the ten commandments, while the words ‘the word of the Lord lasts forever’ are displayed in the background, which brings Brahms’ Requiem to mind. It’s a powerful moment, and at the Premiere on Saturday, it was an experience I’ve never had before. As I opened the case with the first few chords, I heard and felt the audience take in a sharp breath. It sent shivers down my spine.

—

Sofis Posmysz received a standing ovation as she came on at the end. It was the first standing ovation I’ve experienced. She shook my hand and said ‘mein Tadeusz’. Shivers again, and moist eyes.

At the premiere party I had a photo taken, and as she took my arm, she repeated what she had said to me on stage – the biggest compliment I could image – and then, in a moment of pure sweetness, the 90-yr-old lady looked at me and said, ‘but your name isn’t actually Tadeusz, is it?’.

‘No’, I replied, ‘My name is Andrew’. She struggled with it. ‘I’m from Australia’.

Her eyes widened in disbelief, ‘Ach, mein Gott!’.

* My colleague is also Australian, but has family who was killed in the holocaust, so I can imagine that this encounter was even more profound for her.

I hate the fall.

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

On days like this I can but cry ‘Come, Lord Jesus, come!’

6/8

Verse:
The measure of your love is seen at the cross
With arms nailed wide you ransom us
Your holy love bears the weight of sin
As wounds which heal marr the Saviour’s skin
The veil is torn as our curse is crushed
And we see how great your love

Chorus:
Oh, how you love us God
Giving your only Son
We’re made alive in him
This is love

Bridge:
We look to cross
And hope in the empty grave
We lift our eyes for your return

—

Haven’t quite figured out the right key though:

Google-cal’s biggest selling point is that it’s accessible from my phone and my computer and always synced. I usually carry my phone around with me, so therefore, I almost always have access to my diary. The reminder function is also very helpful.

I’ve realised that the problem for me, and it’s a decisive one, is that I just don’t get any sense of time from google-cal, at least, not very easily. I’m a pretty visual-spacial person and I like to see how things relate. Having a week-to-a-page diary let’s me see not only my whole week in overview, but with a couple of page turns and I can physically ‘see’, for example, the time between now and when I need to have something learnt. I know that it’s possible to do this with digital devices, but it’s just not the same when it’s the screen changing (screen swiping is no match for comparing two pages). I notice this too when I read on the Kindle – it’s much more difficult to judge how much of the book is left; a figure of 65% is meaningless unless you’ve been paying attention to how quickly that number progresses.

I also prefer to write my to-do lists on paper (I don’t know why, but the to-do app on my phone just doesn’t seem to ‘do it’ for me) and Moleskines have nice paper. There’s something about nice paper which a screen just cannot replace.

I use google-cal as the basis for the schedule on my professional website, so I will keep that updated, and in the case of being asked a question sans-moleskine, I’ll be able to look at my phone and see if I’ve got a show that day, or not.

I’m not being a Luddite - I use my phone for many things, including reading the bible at Church and small-group, but there’s room in my life for the both of them.

Do you use a digital or paper diary (or both)?

In this scene we’re presented with the theme which will develop throughout the film: we see the Vulcan utilitarianism contrasted with ‘human’ ethic of individual human value. Spock would do what what was best for the most people, while Kirk would risk it all to save his friend. I’m guessing that most viewers wouldn’t really be utilitarian (at least when push comes to shove) and in that sense, the perspective of the film’s story-telling assumes that we will empathise with the ideal of the value of individuals. I suspect that utilitarianism, for however good it may sometimes look on paper, just doesn’t make for a good story. Now, of course, being good for a story does not make something necessarily true, but the great stories tend to connect with some basic human things; that is to say, they reflect back some of what it means to be human. Are ethical frameworks which don’t really connect with our experience of being human all that good?

Good stories are often good because they reflect in some ways the even greater story of humanity – the meta-narrative of God redeeming mankind to himself. Is it any wonder then that a story of sacrifice to save a beloved resonates so deeply within us? It points us to Jesus who gave up his life for us, those he had set his love upon.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a ‘before’ picture (the body was black) but here are some shots taken during the process, and at the end:

I haven’t yet had a chance to set the intonation, but here’s a video I took the other day of my mate Martin playing it (in fact, I hadn’t adjusted the neck yet either, it was literally just bolted on a day or two earlier!):

I’ve decided that my next project (in the summer break) will be to build a tap-tempo delay pedal.. an ambitious task!

Who Do You Think You Are?: Finding Your True Identity in Christ

by Mark Driscoll

eBook edition
Published by Thomas Nelson.

Mark Driscoll is the pastor the internet loves to hate. He’s infamous for his loud, often obnoxious style, and saying things which get him into trouble. What relief then, to discover that there’s none of this bombast here.

The book is dedicated to his teenage daughter, and carries therefore, the appropriate love and passion of a father. In fact, Driscoll made the comment that this book is

the best thing I’ve written by a long stretch, and there’s no landmine of controversy—just the stuff I tell my 15-year-old daughter regarding who she truly is.

I think he’s right: this is the best thing I’ve read from him, and I would love to see him bring this gentler, fatherly approach into the rest of his public ministry. But to be honest, I found this book a bit of a struggle to finish at times*, not because of it’s difficulty, but simply that I personally found the style a little boring. While Driscoll is a charismatic speaker, I’m not convinced he’s a particularly great writer. The book consists of 16 chapters exploring Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians in regards to what it says about our identity.

Style aside, the strength of the book is the way Driscoll covers all the various implications of finding our identity in Christ in a way that young and new believers will be able to approach, exploring and explaining things like justification, adoption, prayer, and forgiveness. The strongest chapters for me were Chapter 6: I am saved, where he explains the work of Christ in justifying us, Chapter 11: I am new, where his passion to see his daughter embrace her identity as a new creation was really engaging, and Chapter 12: I am Forgiven, where he helpfully discusses what forgiveness is, and what it isn’t. The inclusion of some testimonies from his pastoral ministry, of people finding new life in the work of Christ was encouraging.

Whatever concerns I have about Driscoll’s approach to his public ministry, I have to admit that it’s difficult to reconcile this book with the image often portrayed by his (many) ardent critics.

Despite it not really being my style, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it, particularly to teenagers, or new believers, as the teaching is helpful.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com  book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 

* To be honest, I wouldn’t have gotten past the half-way mark if I wasn’t reviewing it – in fact, I took so long I had to get my Booksneeze account reinstated!

(The Kindle version is on sale for $3.49 at time of posting).

Here is all you need to be involved:

If you’ve already got a DAW or audio software like Pro-Tools or Cubase, then you probably know what you’re doing, so here are the basics (otherwise, keep reading and I’ll walk you through it a bit more)

• Here are the files (87MB – wavs are 44.1 kHz, 24 BIT)
• Tempo is 130 BPM
• Record yourself singing along in which ever langauge you feel comfortable.
• Send the track via http://www.dropsend.com/ to aborrowedflame@gmail.com by May 15th.

Here is a more detailed how-to for those who are newer to recording:

You’ll need to download a recording program, something like Garage Band*, Audacity or Reaper (I use this). At a pinch you could even play the tracks on a smart-phone/iPod with headphones and record with a basic recording program or webcam.

Once you’ve got a recording program, you’ll need to download this zip file (87MB) which contains the lead sheet & chord chart and the playback WAV files: full (if you go down the smart-phone & webcam route!), band only & vocal track only. The playback files are not of the whole song, but the bridge section and final chorus.

Here is the process for a multi-tracking audio program such as Reaper:

1. Start a new project (set the sample rate to 44.1kHz / 24 Bit WAV) , and set the tempo to 130 BPM (very important!)
2. Create two new tracks. Import ATW-playback-band.wav to the first track, and ATW-playback-vox.wav to the second track. (make sure the start of each file is lined up)
3. Create a third track – this will be the track on which you record your vocal part.
4. Make sure you’ve got a microphone of some kind plugged in and set-up. Arm the third track for recording and then hit record! You can do this with both the vocal and band track playing, or if you like, mute the vocal track and record just to the band. The idea is to record the bridge in your own language, and then feel free to sing along with the final chorus as well!
5. Once you’ve got a take you’re happy with, you’ll need to export / render only *your* vocal track (you may need to ‘mute’ the other tracks in order to do this) to a WAV file and send it back to me using http://www.dropsend.com/ to aborrowedflame@gmail.com

I hope that makes sense.. please leave a comment if you have any questions… in fact, I’d love to know if you’re planning on taking part.

Please send your tracks to me by the 15th of May!

I can’t wait to hear your contributions! (I’d also accept banjo tracks, fwiw)

Note: The recording will be released free of charge, so, there will be no royalties or anything like that. By submitting a track, you agree to this.

* I’m not a Mac user, so I can’t help you on this.. I just assume it will do the job!

I’ve been asked to write a list of some English books which might be appropriate for the book stall at our church. They wouldn’t just be for ex-pats, but a lot of ESL-ers, and German-speakers who want to read in English.

So far I’ve thought of things like:

• How to read the bible for all it’s worth (Fee & Stuart)
• The Reason for God (Keller)
• Desiring God / Don’t waste your life (Piper)
• Know and tell the gospel (Chapman)
• Let the nations be glad (Piper)
• Worship Matters (Kauflin)
• The Cross of Christ (Stott)
• Some C.S. Lewis.. Bonhoeffer.. Schaeffer.. ?

You can already see my bias there… which is why I need your suggestions! Some more Apologetics? Biographies?

Which ‘classic’ books from evangelical writers would form your essential reading list?

Photo (CC) by ginnerobot

Weinberg was a Jewish-Polish composer who had fled to Russia in 1939. Although the opera was written in 1968, it was banned by the Soviet Union, and it didn’t receive it’s first staging until only a few years back in Bregenz. Our performance will be the German premiere. It is based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Zofia Posmysz.

Posmysz, now 88, wrote her novel in 1962 after a chilling experience in Paris three years earlier when she mistook the shrill yelling of a German tourist for one of her Auschwitz guards: “It wasn’t her… But still my heart stopped beating for a moment. And then I thought: what would I have done if it had been her?”

She was haunted by the same question during the trial in Krakow of the Auschwitz camp supervisor Mandel and Kommandant Höss, wondering if her own block warder might be among them. But justice never caught up with her. “Leave judgment to God,” she said. In writing the novel, she focused on the psychological drama, rather than the struggle to stay alive: “To reproduce the reality of Auschwitz, one would have to describe… how one makes it through 15 minutes.” Words, she said, cannot describe the full horror. Nor painting. “Perhaps only music.”
- Dalya Alberge

It really is humbling to feel the weight that comes knowing that my character, Tadeusz, is based on a real person. The courage was real courage, of someone who actually stood in that situation.

In the opera, Tadeusz paints a medallion of his fiancee, Martha (the main character) for her. In reality, Zofia and Tadeusz met three times, and on the third meeting he gave her a medallion with the image of Christ.

One scene in the opera depicts a prisoner designing a medallion. Some prisoners had to produce jewellery for the SS. One of them risked his life secretly making her a delicate pendant that features the head of Christ crowned with barbed-wire and inscribed “Auschwitz 1943″. She wears it to this day. - Dalya Alberge

 

Photo: Aleksander Laskowski.
Posmysz with the medallion

 

It is a powerful piece, because it is a powerful, true story, and I feel the weight of honouring it.