Earlier this year, we produced HOW I GOT THAT STORY by Amlin Gray. We reached out to him prior to the production but were unsuccessful at making a connection then.
What a wonderful surprise to wake up this morning to an email from THE Mr. Gray himself! With his permission, we are sharing his message:
Dear Ms. Sueko,
I was sorry that we didn’t get to have that talk you broached during the runup to your HOW I GOT THAT STORY—the more so this morning after I Googled the show and saw what an event you turned it into—what an instrument for community interchange. But it appears that this is how Mo’Olelo always works. It looks like an extraordinary organization.
The show, just as a show (if that means anything, given that you always make a show more than a show), seems to have gone well too. The critics’ reservations (and the veteran’s comment that he found the Reporter “unbelievable”) are such as I have heard before, so guess what, It’s the play, Gray. But you appear to have negotiated the difficult slide from absurd to traumatic with great skill and taste.
Thanks for reviving the play (which seems mostly to be done only in Germany these days—Wie Ich Zu der Geschichte Kam). And for making such good social use of what it offers.
Yours,
Amlin
He added in a second email:
By all means share my note around. I was tremendously excited and gratified to see the event you made of the piece for your community.
Let me mention, besides, that I love it when, too rarely, an Asian-American actor plays the Event. It gives him (or her—that’s happened too) a leg up on representing what is, after all, an Asian—well, event. And it’s clear that your Reporter held his own. After all, he’s structurally the lead, but I didn’t make it easy for him.
All best for your ongoing work,
Amlin
The community engagement work we do at Mo`olelo is quite unusual, and so reading Mr. Gray’s words and his appreciation of that community work was tremendously validating and encouraging.
Mahalo to Mr. Gray and to the community that surrounded HOW I GOT THAT STORY!
photo by sam hodgson
