Need opinion on this letter...
The letter:
Dear Mr. Chan,
My name is Ericka Skirpan and I am a director/theatre practitioner from Toronto, Ontario. I am living in Hong Kong for a year teaching English theatre and public speaking to secondary school students. However, while I am here, I plan to continue my work as an ambitious director and am looking for an assistant director for my first project. I was curious if you could recommend any of your students, or know of someone who would be interested in working on the piece.
I will be directing a bilingual version of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night which will hopefully be performed in Kowloon Park or Victoria Park in the early spring. Shakespeare in the Park is a long lasting tradition and I would be honoured to bring it to the city of Hong Kong. However, I wish to reach out to the Cantonese audience as well as the English audience, so I plan to stage portions of the show in Cantonese and portions in English. To do this, however, I am in need of an assistant director who would be willing to help find a good translation of the script for the Cantonese sections as well as work with the Cantonese actors during the rehearsal process.
The concept of the show shall be set in the mystical land of Illyria as is noted in the script. In my version of Illyria, it will be a fantasy world that encompasses elements of the late Ching dynasty either just between or after the Opium wars. In this land, the language of nobility is Cantonese. When nobles speak to each other or to themselves, it is strictly in Cantonese. The low born language and language of foreigners is English. Therefore, it is shaping up that about 1/3rd of this performance will be in Cantonese. It should give the strictly-Cantonese speaking audience a greatly different show than the strictly English audience, and the bilingual audience an entire other show. I think it will be excited and captivating for all told.
As for the assistant directing position, it will be paid though only out of a cut of the box-office receipts. 10-15 percent of the show’s income, though this is negotiable. It will encompass the translation and script cutting work which will be a few meetings from now until December and then starting January 1-2 rehearsals a week. It will not be heavy hours, but will be challenging work and look great on a young director or actor’s resume`.
I hope to hear back from you soon. Even if you do not have a student to recommend or one interested in the project, I would love to hear some names you might suggest for assistance on this show. Thank you so much for your time and attention in regards to this matter.
Sincerely,
Ericka Skirpan
Founding Artistic Director
In the Moment Productions
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
So, does it totally suck? Have I given way too much information? Do I reek of desperation? Help me here, I'm terrified to send this thing off!
"Well, I'm all for honesty, Oliver, especially in the theatre. But the problem is whether you have an empty space or one that's all cluttered up with stairs, in the end, the audience is still just watching a group of actors and actresses pretending to be Queens and Kings."
"Well, with an attitude like that, why do it at all?"
"Because drama is that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment which constitutes poetic faith. Poetic. Faith. It's a beautiful idea." (Slings and Arrows)