THIS IS PHI BULANI

I was really excited about this production of Storm Warning, i'd seen the two other productions of it. I saw it on Opening Night and laughed and cried and laughed again. I read a couple of reviews this morning and was really put out. So i contacted PHI at his home in Toronto, thinking he might need to vent or something as well. True to himself, he was totally cool about some of the reviews for his latest show Storm Warning, conerned more with what his friends, family, and fans might be feeling about a couple of the less desirable ones. Previous excerpts were published, this is now the full transcript from telephone interview, dated Nov 15/2005.

Number One Phan: Hello... PHI, its Noph, how you dong? I saw "Storm Warning" again, it was great, you made some changes-
PHI: Uh huh... well Noph, you know every production's a little different, owing to the intimate space at the Walmer Centre i felt we we're able to give a little more weight to the darker themes, we kept all the fun stuff... I mean there's no way you can't, Foster wrote a very funny script... with some dark themes... We are true to both.
NOPH: Some of the reviews said you were wooden, or too stiff .?
PHI: Uh huh, well (laughs) thats the first time i heard that as a complaint!...thats not usually considered a problem... (big laugh)... it's kind of funny, it was an Opening Night, they're always way too loaded... the night i mean, not the patrons, (laughs) still, that being said, i could really feel the room, and there was not a cold seat in the house... so quite frankly those criticisms don't land, wait a minute i'm lying, ofcourse they land, i'm not impervious to them, they just don't jibe with my connection with the audience or the direct experience of that connection.
NOPH: So what are you saying?
PHI: I guess i'm saying; ph#*%ck, knock on wood, you make a choice, maybe i was... maybe i wasn't, you gotta take the bad with the good, and the good with the bad... and the ugly apparently(laughs)... maybe they didn't get what i was doing... the play is set in 1953, our set and lighting design articulated our effort to give the audience an experience that spoke to that psyche. So at the risk of sounding glib, we're enjoying ourselves, and the audiences that have seen "Storm Warning" have certainly enjoyed themselves, felt something, been touched in some way... thats why I do what I do, it really is kind of a spiritual thing for me... with or without wood(laughs).
NOPH: Anything you want to say to the critics.
PHI: No, not really, no. "Most people got a job to do, and they do it." It's funny, I really don't know of too many professions where an outside voice from another profession gets to speak their opinion so loudly, and have that opinion given so much weight... artistic- critical- analysis... these days, seems mostly about slagging something, and or making a whack of negative statements, ~not sure why they get off on this, or what it validates for them, so much for journalism... but to each their own i guess.
NOPH: That's what i like about blogging thing. It gives people a voice, beyond the letter to the editors page.
PHI: Yeah, you really dig it eh?. Well, there you go... it's not just our show, it's done right across the boards, it's a curious developement. I'm just not sure what they think they're doing, who they're serving, the art form itself suffers with pithy reviews like one in the Star or the vitriolic comments in the Sun, don't get me wrong, i'm not pretending to be a Polyannna over here... but i saw no attempts at a thoughtful review or anything worthy of the paper it took to print it on, its insulting... insulting to trees around the world.
NOPH: So you feel insulted?
PHI: When it's in a national paper, it's less about me then people realize... i just feel kinda bad for the people that come out of their homes, see something, enjoy it, and then read in the paper the next day, why they shouldn't have enjoyed it... or an audience full of ww2 vets that gave us standing ovations... those that could.
NOPH: Hmmm, you sound kinda sad.
PHI: Well look how it made you feel, I'm not sad Noph, it's kind of a sad situation, ~when you make something beautiful, and well it's kinda lousy you know-
NOPH: How so?
PHI: There's no real recourse... well let me put it to you this way, the whole set up is a bit assbackwards, it's as though the artist is a floor-cleaner, and that floor-cleaner has just taken great care to clean and polish the floor, i mean it's a beautiful... gleaming... golden... wooden floor, and then some foreman comes out of the john, scratching his ass, and with shit on his boots, and proceeds to trudge and trundle over it, then turns around and says 'oh look at that... i better write a report, saying the floors were'nt done up to specs. '
NOPH: Ouch!
PHI: (laughter) Like i said a few minutes ago... we love what we do. It's true~ there's no biz like show biz! Speaking of which, we' ve got an afternoon show, and it's sold -out!~ So I gotta run... thanks for the view n' everything... you feel better now?
NOPH: Merde... your really something you know that.
PHI: Oh i'm somethin' alright.
NOPH: There's some good reviews out there too!
PHI: Yeah I know... it all balances out, they' re on the radio and net...
NOPH: I know I'm posting them.
PHI: Yeah? Well... sometimes the foreman cleans his boots. (Laughter)...ciao bella... a pleasure as always, Peace.
www.thelivemusicreport.com> by Lesley Mitchell -Clarke
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Storm Warning Runs thru til Nov 26th/ 2005 Enjoy!