NLT - Nagy Local Timing
7 TO 17 MINUTES BREAK...
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| Joud Adada in IN THE HEART OF THE HEART OF ANOTHER BODY - 2010 |
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| Joanna Aziz in IN THE HEART OF THE HEART OF ANOTHER BODY - 2010 |
I have to smoke, wait I don't have cigarettes…
Can I buy some?
NO! You don't have time.
I need the bathroom first.
No, you can hold it!
Cigarette, right! Rami will have, no he smokes Davidoff…
Who cares! Damn where are my shoes…
You don't need shoes, find Rami before the time is up.
What is the time?
I don't know they have my phone, I think it's 8 or 9:30 or maybe 11, I don't know damn it cigarette!
"Please go inside… Break's over"
The "Ciggie break" a term all Aghonistikoi have grown accustomed to, is one of many terms used by Nagy Souraty while "conducting" his actors, as people who have worked with Nagy for 2 years we can say that nothing about Nagy's rehearsals is ordinary, not even his breaks.
From 7 to 17 minute breaks, from obscure call times.
An Aghonistikos' brain is constantly set to NLT (Nagy Local Timing). Timing and punctuality are ever-present forces in 'Souratism' and his rehearsals. All actors are to set their watches 3 minutes ahead. Some may argue that 3 minutes is not a significant amount of time to make any difference, however in a world where "We cannot move on until the smallest detail is the end of the world" 3 minutes change everything…
"Be there ahead of time, so we can start on time." - Nagy Souraty.
Not only are our watches set to 3 minutes ahead of time, our minds are also set ahead of the clock, ahead of the time, always working on something, for something we have one course, one purpose, one mindset. The concept of punctuality is taken to a whole new level. A level where to arrive on time is to arrive too late. To be able to fully function as one entity, we must start on time, fully prepared and present mind and soul all the world's troubles left at the door. If the call is at 6:03, we are there at 5:52, the call time to call rehearsals being 11 minutes prior to the rehearsal time. By the time of the rehearsals, a number that increases as the performance nights draw near. By the rehearsal time, we were all on stage ready to fly.
"House lights on, work lights on, let's have a 7 minute break and we'll take it back." - Nagy Souraty.
It's not 5, it's not 10, no it's 7. 7 is punctual, 7 is efficient, 7 does not waste time, 7 is exact… When we have a break, we do not waste time, as soon as we step off stage, the brain allocates it's time and off we go. Be it a ciggie, a 7 or a 17 minute break. We know what has to be done accordingly. Each time has with it, it's own rules, it's own path. No time is wasted nor wanted. Time well executed is perfection… Respecting its parameters make us closer to perfection.
What we do during these breaks is very calculated, well if we're not off working on something, this is what hits us in the order of priorities. Water (because we all need to hydrate), cigarette (you smokers out there would understand), bathroom (do not FORGET, you will regret it), coffee/redbull (we all have our vices), and last but not least a change of clothes (it can get messy sometimes).
I think it is safe to say that those who work with Nagy, will never look at time the same way again. The idea of lateness is no longer a concept we understand, we do not waste time, we do not, we do not defer, we are Aghonistikoi and we are here to stay!
Joud Adada & Joanna Aziz - January 2010
This is definitely a very particular conception of time that can be beautifully percieved. Because it is not only about being on time to be respectful or polite or whatever, anymore. It is first to avoid this anger, nervosity, and ache in your throat, that you feel, when the person you are meeting with is 15 minutes late, even though he or she keeps on texting you : "I'm right across the street, I need a minute" every two minutes.
ReplyDeleteIt is also this idea to try to beat up time, to enjoy every single minute of the moments you are living. The idea that everything could be over the next second, and you beeing there 3 minutes earlier, can change everything.
For me, it is also about Carpe Diem, sieze the day, and every second that I was able to spend with the Didaskalo, the director. Every second that I was able to attend these amazing rehearsals, that take your breath away. Every second that I was able to sit in this same seat every night, and still, always be as thrilled if not more, as the very first day. Each second that allowed me to observe each individual who was not acting, onstage, but living theatre.
And each second that allowed me to sit in this empty theatre, breathe a very particular air, thinking about what I would be able to learn tonight, what I would be able to see, and about this aura that emerged from Gulbenkian.
It is these very particular moments that I was able to live, just because I witnessed them, sometimes before everyone was already there to withness them with me. It's this adrenaline and enthusiasm to be able to experience something that not everyone can experience, just because, in two minutes, the moment will be over.
This is what NLT is really about.