Yesterday I was able to perform 2 shows for Sharon’s school. It was their week celebrating Indian Culture. They had all sorts of craftsmen sharing their artworks with the kids. Miniature painting, wood sculptures, rug making, toys, fabrics, books….. so much to see. The gypsy circus school was performing outdoors as well. I got to perform in the theatre as the “opening act”.
Sharon had asked me to use Indian stories, so I’ve been reading a bunch of books during the past couple months. Nothing really spoke to me until the night before the show… when I realized I needed to make a decision.
One story that “spoke to me” included a talking bird, a beautiful parrot, a Maharaja, a bad guy, a poor good guy, a magical flying horse, a lion, an elephant king, and a bird cage (preferably 3). I’d need time to add humor to it, but it had plenty of color, magic, and chaos. I made a few notes the night before and we arrived at the theatre a couple hours early so I could inflate the balloons and prep for the show.
The stage, lights, and sound system were everything I could hope for. I’m always a little concerned about dealing with young kids (they can feel shy and intimidated or overly enthusiastic) and about the logistics of getting volunteers on stage (when kids are in balconies it’s tough to get them onto the stage…. but if you only pick the kids down in the orchestra seats the rest of the audience feels cheated). The couple shows I’ve done here in India and Nepal also had another element – English wasn’t always understood. During the preshow (I love pre-show time almost as much as I enjoy the show itself) I saw there wouldn’t be any real issue with these concerns. The only issue was keeping the show to 30 minutes (my internal clock is set on 45-60 minutes).
Annie was up in the balcony shooting video. When one show ended she heard one girl saying to her friend “I hope it’s not over yet!” It’s nice to get a good critique from the audience that really matters.
After the show while we were walking around the crafts and arts section one little boy told me his friend’s younger sister had been a monkey in my show…. and the older brother was sitting in the balcony laughing from beginning to the end. I asked him who (the sister who was in the show or the brother who was watching) would tell their folks about it that evening. He said the brother…. because the sister would be laughing too much. That made me feel good.
I really owe Sharon a BIG Thank You for setting me up for this experience (we’ve talked about this for about 35 years).
Here are some shots of the fun chaos taken from the video footage Annie shot:
