Wednesday, 15 July 2009

• Currently Café Tempest: Adventures On a Small Greek Island By Barbara Bonfigli see related

  Woman in Charge: Barbara Bonfigli

  

  About Barbara Bonfigli -

  Barbara is an author, lyricist and theatrical producer. When she isn’t writing songs or travel articles, or producing shows,  she packs some French roast and catches a plane to Athens. Then a ferry or a hydrofoil to... but that's classified.

  She hitchhiked to Greece in her first nomadic summer, and discovered her native land.  She’s been exploring it ever since -- hiking in the Pelion, kayaking in the Dodecanese, sailing the Aegean. In a tiny seaside taverna, over fried kalamari and a pitcher of homemade red, a few Greek families and she watched Obama conquer Berlin.

  Maps are her recreational drug of choice. After wearing out five passports and four continents she uncorked her memories and imagination -- and a bottle or two of retsina -- to write her first novel, "Café Tempest: Adventures on a Small Greek Island". It's a kind of "A Year in Provence" meets "Zorba the Greek".  You are invited to the mythical island of Pharos, to laugh and dance in the hammock, not the cradle of Western civilization.  (photographer: Ellen Warner)

  
  

  An informal interview with Barbara:

  1)    “Author, lyricist and theatrical producer” Which came first and how do they mesh in the present day?

  I'           I've been writing since I was given a box of crayons. When I actually learned the alphabet it became a more social activity. I wrote the school skits, founded the school paper, edited the school yearbook and forgot to learn algebra. So far this hasn't been a major problem. Some time ago (oh, yes, and I forgot to learn to tell time) a composer friend asked me to write lyrics for a semi musical production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" at Lincoln Center in New York. It was such a great experience that we've continued to collaborate on other shows. Catherine MacDonald writes soaring original music and writing lyrics for them --we actually start with the words -- is almost instant gratification. I expect to write songs forever. As for theatrical producer, that could happen again any time. I worked with two partners in London, we founded Showpeople Ltd. and concentrated on small musicals. Our first season we had two hits and my summer in London turned to fifteen years.

  2)  What is your educational background? Were any of these (above) your original goals?

             I've been wildly fortunate to have studied with inspirational teachers, including writing with Miss Wilson in the 8th grade, riding with Colonel Feagin at camp, music with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 70's, and Kashmir Shaivism and meditation with two gurus of the Siddha lineage in India from the 80's to the present. I continue to practice yoga with Tias Little in Santa Fe and wherever he is that I can reach. Many writers have been my teachers, but only through osmosis.

            My original goal was to stay up as late as possible. Luckily I live part-time on a Greek island where this is a cinch to achieve. I don't think of writing as goal; it's been a constant activity since...see #1 above. What else; I'd like to make you laugh and get you thinking about the enlightened heart; one that is gender blind, color blind, free to love who you love.

  3)  I am curious did you travel alone while you wore out your passports and how were you treated as a women traveling – any countries less friendly to you?

             I usually travel with a friend, but always independently in the sense that I like to engage strangers in one-to-one conversations. These are often mind-blowing.  My novel is full of such encounters. Before I first traveled to Europe between college semesters, I hitchhiked a lot in America. People en route are more spontaneous and forthcoming than those you've run into at the grocery for five years, or almost everyone who has built a nicely functioning facade. Travel, often and afar if you can.

               In the 70's and 80's when I wandered around solo even for an afternoon, I often had trouble with guys. Single fair-haired girls were considered fair game in countries as dissimilar as Morocco and Italy. I remember ducking into a cathedral in Rome to get rid of a persistent Italian guy. He followed me in. Then I bought a slice of watermelon from a street vendor and hurled it at him. That worked nicely. But there's no watermelon in the winter. My experience now is that single women traveling have much less difficulty because it's happening much more often.

  5)   Where else have you traveled? Do you have plans to incorporate any other locations into future books? Will you base a series in Greece?

               Ok there's no way to be modest about this, not that it requires much more than a boundless curiosity, lots of flexibility and complete disregard for linguistic perfection. I've traveled to more countries than I have fingers toes internet aliases.... I do expect to incorporate other countries in my future writings, though I'm very likely to set my next novel in Greece.

  6)   Be honest – how much is “Sarah, a thirty-something American theatrical producer” like Barbara Bonfigli?
  

               Sarah is a close personal friend, although her omlettes are better. Alex and Monika and Theo and Nikos and probably every character is a partial reflection of the author. How else can they be believable? For her part, BB would never be brave or reckless enough to cast a postman as Prospero.

  
  

  About Café Tempest: Adventures on a Small Greek Island

  What is it about Greece that makes it so exotic, so romantic, so tantalizing that it’s right at the top of everybody’s bucket list – the one foreign land they’re longing to visit? Our dreams are made on Never on Sunday, Zorba the Greek, and more recently My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Mama Mia.

  
  

  Café Tempest: Adventures on a Small Greek Island is a witty, evocative, beautifully written novel that puts you right in the heart of Greek island life. It’s so alive with the sights and smells and tastes and characters of Greece that you can pick it up and start your Mediterranean vacation on page one. On a deeper level, the book is filled with the kinds of observations, reflections, and arc of self-discovery that make Eat, Pray, Love so compelling.

  “Welcome to Pharos. Laugh and dance in the hammock—not the cradle—of Western civilization,” says author, lyricist, and theatrical producer Barbara Bonfigli. “I’ve been falling in love with Greece since I was old enough to drink retsina. But if Sarah hadn’t captured my imagination you’d never know how I feel about friendship, feta, and the abundance of grace that turns friends into lovers and fishermen into kings.”

  
  

  Synopsis

  When Sarah, a thirty-something American theatrical producer, is asked to direct the locals in their summer show, she picks Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. What follows is a hilarious adventure in casting, rehearsing, and consuming. Her neighbors are excited about acting but delirious about eating. Their rehearsals in a deconsecrated church become a feast in four acts.

  Armed with a sizzling wit, a dangerously limited Greek vocabulary, and a pitch-perfect ear for drama, Sarah navigates the major egos and minor storms of a cab driver Caliban, a postmaster Prospero, and a host of fishermen dukes and knaves.

  When she falls in love, there are even trickier seas to navigate. Her own offstage romance provides an exhilarating, unpredictable counterpoint to Shakespeare’s story of magic, intrigue, and the power of love.

  
  

  Excerpt

               I’m washing up and feeding scraps to Al Fresco when Theo walks through the courtyard. I didn’t hear a knock.

  “Yasoo, Sarah mou.” He gives me a hug. “We are alone?” He takes off his coat and leans against the fridge.

  “We are.”

   Why is he here? “Are you in a hurry? I can finish these dishes later.”

  “No.”

  The three of us go up to the terrace with the remains of Maria’s cake.

  “You like doing the play?” He kicks off his shoes and leans back on the cushions.                

  “Oh yes.” I nod enthusiastically. Animation is one of my basic defenses. I hand him a piece of cake.

  “Mmm, delicious, Sarah mou.”

  “I didn’t make it.”

   The cake hound makes his move.

  “Down Al Fresco! Off!” Nothing. I’m about to sweep him off when I realize he makes a good barrier between us.

  “He only speaks Greek, I think,” says Theo, laughing.

  “He speaks cake actually.”

  “Ahhhh.”

  He swings up to a sitting position.

  “I like you very much.”

  Production meetings don’t start this way. “Thank you, Theo.” I take care not to move away. “I’m very happy to have your friendship.”

  “I think it is more than that, Sarah mou. You come how many years?”

  “Four.”

  “Yes. And you like it here. Even, you can live here. Is that right?”

  “I feel like I’m at home here. But I couldn’t live here. Of course I have friends here and they . . . you . . . all mean very much to me. But this is not my home.”

  He puts his hand over mine. It’s a strong lean hand that’s used to fixing people.

  “But it could be, Saraki. And you would not have to work.”

  I get up. “I want to work. I love to work.” I look at him steadily and let him feel my affection. “And I like you very much, Theo. But I want to be your friend. Not your lover, not your wife.”

  He can’t hold my gaze. His neck sinks into his shoulders and his shoulders collapse.

   “Theo, believe me…. No!” I shout. Theo jumps. So does Al Fresco, with my whole piece of cake in his mouth. “Bad!” The dog is wagging his whole body, whereas next to me is a frozen man. “Not bad really.”

  Now he looks at me.

  “I mean the cake; it’s fabulous. Now we all know.”

  “Yes.” He almost laughs.

  “Tell me something Theo,” hoping we can stay on this tack. “Why doesn’t Maria make it for her shop in town?”

  “Her uncle is the baker here in Kastro. He’s famous for his cake.

  “You mean she doesn’t want to upstage him?”

  “Does not what?”

  Ahhh . . . a real diversion. “Listen, Mister Director, this is a word you’ve got to learn. Upstage comes from the theater. It means steal the glory, make someone smaller.

  “Up staging,” he tries it.

  “Yes. So Maria doesn’t want to look like a better baker than her uncle. Is that what you mean?”

  “Right.”

  “Wow.”

  “Is so unusual?”

  “Unusual? In America they’d make her a saint.”

  “Ahhh, yes.” And we laugh together.

  I get up. “Do you mind? I have to get to the music rehearsal. And I’d like you to come by to learn the curtain call song.”

  I walk him to the door.

  “I’m not sure I am right in the curtain call,” he says, looking down.

  “Oh yes you are, Theo.” I kiss him lightly. “You must be there. You’re the muse of Pharos.”

  “Am I?” He stands up straight. “Yes. Adio.”

  Al Fresco and I watch him walk down the hill.

  “His heart’s not broken and his ego’s intact. I think we handled that pretty well,”

  I say. “Don’t look at me like that.”

  
  

  ~~~~~

  To learn about Barbara Bonfigli and Café Tempest, feel free to visit any of these sites.

  Barbara Bonfigli’s website – www.cafetempest.com

  Order Café Tempest directly from the publisher - http://www.tellmepress.com/pub_ct.php or from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Café-Tempest-Adventures-Small-Island/dp/0981645313

  To see the complete tour schedule visit http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2009/05/cafe-tempest-by-barbara-bonfigli-summer.html
  

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