Rashid Duck-Walks

Yesterday was all about 'the good work,' a very good rehearsal with the full cast for 'Goodbar,' and a video shoot in the late afternoon with the actor playing Rashid, on the beach in Evanston. The light was good, the wind was whipping, and we captured some nice images: Rashid, dressed in white, dancing on the beach, walking towards the water, doing an almost joyful 'duck-walk,' into the immensity where water and sky meet.

Carla and I reviewed the images in the evening. Wahid/Rashid is a young actor, born in Bahrain, who has lived in Chicago since the age of three. He is a young, attractive kid who graduated from Depaul with a technical degree (he has a good day job) who has just entered the Second City program for comedy/improv. Wahid had rehearsed a few lines of dialogue and we did multiple takes. The later takes were looser, almost joyful; we burned some tape, joked around, which helped him relax, and find an amiable 'honesty.'

Rashid is a powerful presence in the play, he is 'the other,' from a foregn land, but his words are 'poetic,' he must come across as sympathetic. He is a 'mujahadeen' from Afganistan. He is not depicted as an 'evil-doer,' but as a human being struggling against the constraints of being human. 'The essential message of Islam: to surrender to love.' This is counter to the political narrative of the day.