December 23 -- ......and there’s cake! (Lou)

Hassan was all grins when he brought my reworked sandals to the breakfast table.  The shoemaker did a marvelous job, and it felt great to wear them.  I saw a good Islamic district walk in my immediate future, and all for a £55 ($3.50) alteration.  This got a fellow breakfast diner and me chatting, and an invite to the one man show he’d be presenting in the evening.  Dawar theatre is just a hop across the street in an historic building.  It hosts lots of arts workshops, such as Emily’s writing class and across town, it runs a kitchen run by refugee women, preparing local farm produce.  Anyhow, Hector was from Colombia and we had a pleasant chat and I thought it would be fun to be at a local event so I happily agreed to go.

Being mindful that my new foot ware, while comfortable, is open to the elements, I toke them for a test drive.  Groppi’s back entrance demonstrated the dangers of gravel but, treading softly, the rewards of good coffee.  Then it was off to........the tentmakers......khan al khali.......or the University?  The danger of wanting to buy a quilt, and the desire for lentil soup come lunch determined my destination and with a good result.  Found a glass blower that had suitable inserts for my old lamp, and enjoyed musicians busking on the street.  The walk back was extra challenging so when my Timeshifter app announced I was soon to avoid caffeine, a b-line was made to Groppi for coffee and chocolate decadence.  No need for dinner for sure.  Used the stimulus to pack and with the help of young people people in the lounge, found both bags to be under 50 lbs.  soon it was theatre time.

The evenings one man performance was scheduled for 7 and we of the audience were ushered into a room with a balcony overlooking a courtyard.  Cats wandered in and out, apparently part of the household as numerous bowls lined a kitchen wall.  An enticement to wait in the seating area was made with the comment:.......and there is cake!  Had a bit of conversation with one woman who suggested the monologue was a personal experience of torture.  Ouch.  Torture as performance art.  In reality it was a riveting personal tale of Hectors growing up in Colombia during an anti communist period when the government ran rough over the population.  Presented in English and in sections translated in Arabic by a woman in the audience with a strong voice who clearly knew what she was doing, it was a very visual performance as well.  A prop as simple as a scarf would be stretched taught, one second suggesting a soldier pointing a gun during a raid, another second a threat to Hector himself.  It was very effective.  There was no self pity, just portrayal of a kid trying to understand.  He did a great job.  After the performance, he divided us into groups and asked us to do exercises where we were to create cameo visuals to a word or a mood he’d suggest, and the audience was called on to describe what they saw in it.  He was a very good performer and a really competent leader.  At the end, the group formed a conga line that seemed a rowdier version of Pena.  And as the line continued, Hector and I chatted briefly and I was able to do a quick video.  Turns out hes given similar performances to the Pentagon and CIA among others over the last 12 years.  Emily was there and we all had a really good time!  Who woulda thunk.  Dare say, I had a better time than I would have at the movies.  And there was cake!