About two weeks ago the SISU is in the Heart team traveled to Fairport Harbor, Ohio to continue the development process for an original play involving local stories and personal ancestry. This trip marks the one year point for the project and concludes the research and development activities funded by Finlandia Foundation National (a huge "kiitos" for their support!). Our project team has grown throughout the year and now includes Park Cofield, Project Director; Saara Wacklin, Community Manager; Nina Sallinen, Actor, Jeffrey Allen Sneed, Actor; and Gene Cofield, Park's Father/Production Assistant. 

We started our trip with a nice dinner at the Fairport Family Restaurant, with the board members of our community partner, the Finnish Heritage Museum. I think we all ordered the fresh grouper! It was a lovely opportunity to introduce the museum to our new team members, to catch them up with the recent development for the project, and to hear about all of the snow that covered Fairport this past winter! 

The following day, we gathered at Fairport Harding High School for a reading of the first draft of the play. We had a great turn out and many of the people who joined us were the same individuals who participated and shared their stories in the story circles we hosted in Fairport last May. We assigned everyone who wanted to participate a part and casually read the script together from start to finish. The play is fictional, but there are a few parts inspired by specific people's ancestors-- so we made sure those people got to read those lines! It was an incredible experience to be surrounded by so many familiar faces and to hear the play out loud for the first time. 

Following the reading, we had a discussion about the play. We asked the community-- What parts did you like? What sticks with you?  What did we get right? What is still confusing? What is missing?  Which character did you like best? Who is the villain? The feedback we got was largely positive and the play was enthusiastically embraced. People responded to the visual images, the personal journey of the main character, and the references to local businesses, buildings, and landmarks. One particular participant referred to the play as a "Finnish Our Town"-- what a compliment! A second draft of the play will follow to include the community's feedback in order to correct some of the confusion about a dream sequence that didn't quite make sense, and to add more voices from the youth in the community. 

We spent the following afternoon working with a group drama students. We made newspaper "pauper statue" puppets based on large wooden figures that will be manipulated by puppeteers in the final performance. The students came up with some really personable characters and then learned the three basic principals of puppetry -- gravity, focus and breath.  After a quick puppet training session, we spent the rest of the time getting to know the students, learning about their favorite spots in the village, and their visions for the future of their community. We wanted to know what they thought should be included in a play and if they thought it was important to learn about their ancestors. Much of what they shared will help inspire two new scenes. Plus-- we learned that there is a ton of natural artistic talent in the room that we can put to use when we come back to present the play in the fall.  

It was a quick trip, but an important one.  The visit also allowed us to get to know some of the local business owners, touch base with Discover Fairport Harbor, and to meet some of our other project partners for the first time including the Fairport Harbor Historical Society and Kathie Pohl the village's new Economic Development Director.

We're looking forward to coming back in August for community auditions, followed by a three month residency this fall to rehearse and present the play for the community!  More details coming soon. Until then, please enjoy this gallery with some other fun photos from our visit! 

-Park

Next week, the project team for SISU is in the Heart will travel to Fairport Harbor, Ohio to read the play with the community for the first time. Joining us are two professional actors - Nina Sallinen (Los Angeles, California), and Jeffrey Allen Sneed (Parma, Ohio). You can read more about them below! 

If you'd like to join us for the reading, you can find all of the details here.  We need lots of people to participate and to let us know what we got right and what still needs work!  

-Park

Nina Sallinen  is a professional actress from Helsinki, Finland. She received her Masters Degree from the Theater Academy of Finland. Nina has performed in more than 70 shows, including productions at the Finnish National Theater, Tampere City Theater, Q-theater, Theater Little Finland, and Theater Jurkka.  She has performed at festivals in France, Italy, Norway, Macedonia and in  U.S in Chicago IL and Santa Barbara CA. She also starred in two TV shows as a series regular. Nina lived in Chicago and started a theater company called The Walk About Theater, where she developed her one woman show,
Poor Poor Lear . In Los Angeles, Nina earned a nomination as Best Supporting Actress from L.A Weekly for the Odyssey Theater production of Conquest of the South Pole in the role of Frankie Boy. ​

Where is your family from?
My family is from Eastern Finland originally, both of my parents. My mom is originally from Enonkoski and my dad is from Savonranta. Both small towns not too far from Savonlinna.

If you could choose one family member to spend time with right now who would it be?
I want to see my grandmother, she's 92.

What does "sisu" means to you?
It's funny but I think that's how I most identify myself as a Finn. I think us Finns believe that we are the only ones who have sisu, I know it's not true, but we like to think so. Sisu is the secret ingredient for getting through hard times, obstacles ,or for even winning. I think everyone has it, you just have to be willing or know how to access it.

Want to know more? Check out this interview with Nina on the Finland Center website! 

Jeffrey Allen Sneed was born and raised in Parma, Ohio just outside of Cleveland. He is a graduate of Bowling Green State University with a BAC in Acting and Directing and while there was President of the Theatre Fraternity Honorary Theta Alpha Phi. Since then, he has been seen in New Jersey, New York, and many parts of Ohio in both professional and educational capacities. Most recently he was seen in "The Devil's Disciple" with the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and " 'Tis Pity She's a Whore" with Rubber City Shakespeare. 

How far back can you trace your family tree? 
I wish I could trace it back further! We just have spots of the family tree here and there. Recent endeavors suggest that our ancestors may have been English and the surname was spelled Snead. 

What is your favorite family tradition? 
I grew up with only my immediate family and as such our traditions are really our own. One of my favorites, and the one I cannot explain, is every Thanksgiving my family sits down and watches "King Kong"!

Describe a time when you had to exhibit "sisu" in your life.
Graduating from a small liberal arts school with a degree no one has heard of and in a field that has a large failure rate left me in a terrible state. For a long time, I was not able to find any work and unable to fulfill any of my ambitions. I went into depression and my personal life fell apart. Eventually, I knew I couldn't give up because this is what I needed to do. I pushed myself out of the doldrums and made a promise to make myself as hard the person I wanted to be. Due to my taking action, I overcame that hard time in my life and am walking a brave and happy road.