You never know how big a small act of kindness can be.
That’s a line from the upcoming play A Year of Giving that is based on the true story of my journey of giving $10 a day to strangers for a year after losing my job in the fall of 2009.
If you live in the DC area – you should come see this play! There is a lot of talent involved – Melanie Papasian did a great job of crafting the script, Patrick Miller from Rockville Little Theatre agreed to produce it and got the very talented Sasha Bratt to direct the show. This, plus an outstanding cast which includes me playing myself (harder than you’d think!) make it a truly memorable evening.
There are five performances…Saturday July 14th is the premiere and it runs through July 28th.
Patrick Miller and Reed Sandridge at rehearsal for A Year of Giving. Photo: Sasha Bratt
All performances are at the Goethe Institut at 7th/I in DC (1 block from Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro). Please note that the show is not recommended for those under the age of 14.
For more information, check out theFacebook page or the review on DC Metro Theater Arts website.
Brrr…it’s chilly this morning. Yesterday was the coldest October 2nd ever recorded here in Washington, DC.
I am trying to get caught up with my blog posts – I’m a little behind. Although the posts sometimes get delayed, the volunteering goes on.
This week’s volunteer experience came at the last minute…well, almost! Just before I left for my lunch break at work I decided to check my personal email. In my inbox I found an email from my friend Kevin who was directing a play at Rockville Little Theatre and he was asking if I would be able to play one of the roles that evening. It was Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge which I had seen the previous weekend, but I certainly didn’t know any of the parts that well.
Me back stage with Dominique who played my wife in "A View from the Bridge."
As it turns out one of the actors had a last-minute emergency and wouldn’t be able to perform that evening. Although it was very minor part, I was still a bit nervous. That didn’t stop me though and I was on stage just eight short hours later. It’s kind of ironic that this worked out the way it did since I had wanted to audition for this show but couldn’t due to some schedule conflicts.
It was a lot of fun, although a bit awkward since I didn’t know most of the other cast members – I did actually knew a few of them from previous work. As an actor I always feel lucky if the cast forms a bond and becomes its own family. The easy interaction and lively game of Uno back stage let me know that this cast wasn’t lacking camaraderie.
After the show I joined the other actors and went out to the front of the house to say hello and thank the patrons. I was surprised to see a friend of mine, although not as much as she was surprised to see me. “I didn’t know that you were in this show!” she said almost reprimanding me. I gave her a big hug and told her the truth, “I didn’t know either until about eight hours ago.”
Last year was an exhilarating daily adventure. Every day I had a mission of finding someone new and sharing a small gift with them: ten dollars.
As you have already seen, the giving keeps on going this year. Every week I will introduce you to a new Kindness Investor who will continue the ten dollar a day giving tradition for seven days.
“So you finished your year-long commitment and that’s it,” many of you have said to me. Nope, not even close.
This year my personal commitments are focused around volunteering. One thing that I learned while doing the Year of Giving is that what made every day so magical wasn’t the ten-dollar gift, but rather the time that I spent with each individual. Time. It is so valuable, yet we don’t treasure it as much as we should. That’s why this year I couldn’t think of anything more valuable than to spend my time with others.
Each week I will volunteer in some capacity and share those experiences with you. Why? Because I hope to inspire you to volunteer as well. I hope that you will speak to your employer about creating an Employee Volunteer Program, join your children in student learning service projects and become leaders for volunteerism in your own community.
Here is my first blog of my year-long commitment to volunteering! I hope to blog about my volunteering every Monday!
Me going nuts with the sander
On a recent Saturday I spent the day helping Rockville Little Theatre build the set for their upcoming production of Translations, the acclaimed work of Irish playwright Brian Friel. I showed up around 10:00am to the Theatre’s workshop that is tucked away behind some municipal buildings for the city of Rockville, MD. “Quarters” as it is referred to is no foreign place to me as I spent many evenings rehearsing in this space when I performed in RLT’s productions of The Laramie Project and The Foreigner – I’ve done a little acting.
Pat Miller, the show’s producer, along with his wife Melanie were in charge. Melanie was busy painting some of the backdrops when I arrived. I went to work sanding and staining and spent most of the next six hours doing that.
A volunteer from a nearby middle school works on a large wall for the set.
There were probably about ten of us total that helped out. Three of which were local middle and high school students who were completing Student Service Learning credits. Menen, an 11th grader from Rockville, told me that she had more than 170 community service hours. “I’m hoping to get a college scholarship,” she said as she maneuvered the power sander over wooden bench she was working on.
RLT has a variety of volunteer needs listed on their website. “We’re an all volunteer organization,” Pat told me, “so quite literally the productions could not be possible without volunteers.” And it’s not just the actors, they also need donations and lots of behind the scenes support as well; from publicity to construction. “Community theaters really need to tap into the community in order to be successful,” he went to say.
And don’t miss the upcoming production of Translations opening on January 28th and running through February 6th. Followers of the Year of Giving might even recognize the show’s director: Jacy D’Aiutolo.
This is a very important play for many reasons according to Pat:
Translations is first and foremost a beautifully constructed play with amazing use of language and an amazing story. In addition to being a great piece of theater, it’s also a very significant play for a number of reasons. Translations was the first production staged by the Field Day Theater Company, which was cofounded by Playwright Brian Friel and actor Stephen Rea who American audiences would know best from The Crying Game and V is for Vendetta. Unlike most Irish theater of the 20th century, which grew out of the Abbey Theater in Dublin, Field Day was founded in Derry, which lies just across the border in Northern Ireland.
Pat stains a bench that will be used for the show.
When the play was written in 1981, it was a particularly tense time during “The Troubles” and bombings were common both in Ireland and Great Britain. Guildhall, the theatre where Translations debuted was itself bombed repeatedly. The play, which deals directly with the subjugation of Irish language and culture at the hands of the British military, had tremendous resonance during this difficult time. It also marked Field Day as a company that was striving to reestablish a cultural “fifth province,” which could unite a divided Ireland through its literature, poetry and theater. The work, that began with the production of Translations, continues to this day.
I hope you will come out and see the show – I’m planning on going this Friday. As Pat reminded me, “In the end the most important people for a theatre company is the audience.” So even if you are not able to volunteer with your local theatre go see a show. There’s nothing like live theatre!
As a bonus, check out this behind the scenes footage of the making of RLT’s production of Translations:
I gave $10 every day for a year. Would you make a $10 donation (that's less than 3 cents a day!) today to help those in need that I have met through the Year of Giving. You will get updates on how your donation is used.
Year of Giving 