Team Pietermaritzburg and Team Hilton set to work early. While team Pietermaritzburg travelled to the town of their title and sourced repair materials, tools, and an over-head projector, myself Matt and Themba set to work at the Hilton venue fixing the eroded walls. Fixing walls is becoming a field of expertise for me on tours, but this was a new feat of creativity. There was no way we were going to be able to replicate the rough beauty that Barati had created on the walls, yet almost anything was going to be an improvement on their dismal state after the rain’s abuse.
Dion and I shared our morning of victories via sms: Got paper and glue for the walls from the school printing room! Borrowed an OHP for the show! New wheels for the doors! Cable-ties to piece our wall back together! Sandpaper! Screw-drivers! Roibos tea to stain the walls!!!
Fixing a wall where the rain got in...
After a productive start to the day, the workshops began. As a last-minute addition to the workshop line-up, I was given the only remaining venue, which was a lecture theatre. Fortunately pre-warned, and not inclined to give a lecture, I had adapted exercises to work within limitations. My workshop blurb (inspired by the other Ubomies):
LIFE OUT LOUD: Have you got a story to tell? The truth? A myth? A lie? A dark secret? A fantasy? A romance? A tale of remorse or revenge? Or just a silly tale to make your friends laugh? Whether you want to write it or say it (or sing it or dance it!), there is a story in all of us that needs to get out. Discover the play inside you and share it out loud!
I had about twenty students in each of the two workshops today. As a warm-up created an thunderstorm with hands clicking, whooshing, patting, thumping. Then an adaptation of 'stop/go', that could be done at their lecture-desks. This one was still a winner even with the variation. Then we moved on to one-word stories, alphabet stories, and telling their own tales with cue lines to establish structure. A few students read theirs out loud. The recurring themes of love and struggle were fascinating. Two of my favourites:
1.) “For as long as she could remember, the town that she lived in had always had the usual routines that bored her to death. Then one day a new boy came to ive on her block and she thought he was very handsome. This caused her to change her look completely, just for the by to take notice of her. Everyone was amazed because they thought she was totally different. And then, to everyone’s surprise they fell so much in love and life was never the same for her. She wished she could take him to the moon so that she could be satisfied that he was for her alone. Finally, to her surprise, it was just only a dream”.
2.) ”For as long as he could remember, the town that David lived in had always been an underdog. Then one day gold was discovered. This caused dispute among the residents. Everyone was entitled to it, so they assumed. And then to everyone’s surprise it was inextractable. Finally, the town clerk decided to sell the land to foreigners and the town was once again poor.”
Finally we finished with contemporising fairy tales, which the learners (the term used here rather than ‘students’) presented to the rest of the group in any theatrical mode they wished. My favourite of these was a contemporary Goldilocks, presented as a news report. Goldilocks was a drug addict from Soweto who broke into a house in Johannesburg. The rich family had gone to play golf. First Goldilocks the thief stole the fancy shoes, then she stole money, then she jumped into the Astin Martin to take it, but because of her habit, she fell asleep in the car. When the family came home and found her, they called ADT security and police.
In the evening, our first showing of Romeo and Juliet was a hit! The students (maybe almost a thousand??) went CRAZY when we began with the loud music, the taxi fight over which music to play- hip-hop or pantzula, leading into the dance off. The actors were amazing at keeping the energy and sailing through the first half. A few technical issues with the party scene, and the second half had some pacing issues, but overall, we were very pleased. Big applause from the audience and even a couple of enthusiasts giving a standing ovation. The show still needs more cuts as a few lines had crept back in, and we discovered that the raucous laughter (especially every time Romeo and Juliet kiss) is adding at least 5 minutes on to the show. Fortunately we will have a little bit more time before the next performance to tighten things up. Worthy of celebration.
A couple of drinks and a persistent propositioner at the Old Main pub. The girls said I should’ve found out if he had a farm (because of course that would make all the difference…for a vegan…). Best quote of the night was after my physical questioning of Illana’s pastry dinner, and she replied “Stop poking my pie” (guess you had to be there). Post show jollyness and gleeful relief, and then exhaustion took over.
Ubomies at Hilton Schools Festival
No comments:
Post a Comment