This post I thought I would write about something that I can truly say opened my eyes and brought myself into perspective about several aspects of life.
This weekend I participated in an event called Relay for Life. If you don’t know what this is…it’s an overnight event that several groups participate in to fight back against cancer.
Going into it, I had no idea what to expect… All I knew is…we were raising money for cancer. All I knew is that we were going to be doing a lot of walking and stuff in the Rec Center…Yay?
Well… I was gladly surprised. I had the time of my life. With my Q30 PAK-istan Against Cancer group, we all stayed up the whole night walking…I even felt the need to run 2 laps on the track to support cancer patients/survivors. The whole experience was moving, and I recommend something like this to everyone…You should all try this at least once.
So this experience is all about fighting back against something. We all have ideals, morals, values that we believe in. And we get so passionate about these things that we try to fight back.
This experience inspired me to tell you about a playwright that is fighting AIDS and wrote plays about his experiences. My co-host of my radio show (Sarah) told me all about him last semester and played me his work and I liked it a lot.
His name? Steve Schalchlin.
Steve is an AIDS survivor. He was on his deathbed at one point during his fight, but he’s survived…And still trying to fight back against this very prevalent disease in this day and age. How you ask? Through theatre.
He’s written a few plays based on his own life: “The Big Voice: God or Merman?” and “The Last Session.” These plays are his way of saying: “I’ve survived, and I need you all to know what happened to me.”
This man has a passion for life and the arts…You can tell through his music and words. He keeps up several blogs, and a few different MySpaces as well.
I’ve heard a few of his songs before through Sarah, and from what I’ve listened to there is real, intense, honest emotion in his songs… His plays’ content also includes what it’s like to be with a longtime partner…In his case, his co-writer Jim Brochu.
Steve is probably one of probably many that record their experiences of suffering such diseases through the arts. The arts can be powerful in so many ways…Yet so healing at the same time. All in all, they MOVE you.
Bloggers: Does the arts (theater, music, dance, art) move you? How so?
“The Big Voice: God or Merman?” has received several awards since its’ Off-Broadway run last year, including the L.A. Ovation Award. His other plays/songs have received awards as well. Steve and Jim, through their efforts, got to where they are today because of their passion for life, and love for one another.
So I write to you tonight to inform you that people are fighting back terrible diseases through the arts…“Rent” is definitely another example of such a play. Writing songs and writing out scenes can be healing…So while events like Relay for Life can change ones’ life through walking overnight…Writing a show that gives audiences’ an awareness of health issues can change ones’ life too in the same fashion.
If you ever see any play like this out there, check it out. You definitely will not regret it.
Here are some links to Steve’s websites to find out more information about his life and his work:
“The Big Voice: God or Merman?” Myspace
And finally: here’s a clip of one of Steve’s songs from “The Big Voice: God or Merman” !
And here’s a clip from “The Last Session”:
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((Pictures courtesy of magnetamerica.com, fda.gov, sanfranciscosentinel.com, fuah.org, nctcsf.org))
