Doing shows, fixing things and making friends

Actually, my first show on foreign soil was in Colombia when I was 11 in an adaptation of Shakespeares The Tempest.
We met Fethi Hassine today, 29, who has helped us throughout the festival. He is an english student who lives in Nabeul and has been coming to the festival for many years (the festival is 24 this year) He would like to be an english teacher when he has finished his studies. He took Paddy to a supermarket to buy water, then my mother to buy lunch. He has also accompanied pretty much everyone from our group around Nabeul, helping to translate and inform where neccesary. Contes Dores went well...we had a really packed room of children and their parents, although we were about an hour late in starting...that has become a theme!! We weren't allowed to play our music because there was a marine biology conference going on in the room next door. After doing the show we went to the official opening of the festival, which started late as well. There was a crazy acrobatics show which was most unsuitable for young children (I think) due to the beautiful, half-naked girls doing sexy dancing inbetween fire breathers and trapeze artists. Anyhoos, that was fun. We then enjoyed meeting lots of people from all over the world who are performing here too.

Tues 22nd...Don't think I did anything of great note today as we weren't performing. I went to see a school we will perform in on Thursday with Paddy. All was good regarding that and I enjoyed spending the rest of the day with my beloved brother Tom, who I wish I could see more.

Wed 23rd...Today we went to Menzel Bouzelfa, a town about 30 mins drive from Nabeul. We did a show in the town hall to a packed audience, which went really, really well! The children sung along to the songs, clapped when the heroes completed tasks and laughed throughout the show, especially when Paddy appeared as the king! We were given some very nice nutty cakes by the people from Menzel Bouzelfa before stopping for some oranges on the way back to Nabeul. I fixed Mariaes princess fan and made a new CD for some of the music in the show in the afternoon. We played card games in the bar that evening; cheat and shops, which made us all laugh a lot! Tom and I sang Bob Marley songs with some Tunisians in the bar before going to bed.

Thursday 24th...We went to perform in the school today. The show was great, with the kids interacting with Mariae all the time. They really enjoyed singing the songs and helping Petit Jean find the magic brush and magic mirror. Performing here is really incredible; the audience becomes part of the show in a way I haven't experienced in Britain before. They clap all the time; when Paddy enters as the king, he normally gets a standing ovation at the very least! Some props did break today though, the tree snapped in half as we were bringing it to life, and the witch puppet lost her broom as we were packing the van at the end. I will brainstorm how to fix the tree in time for Saturdays performance tonight, and fix it tomorrow. I will have to make a new one on returning to the UK...c'est la vie.

Ciao for now

Jack

Bonjour au Tunisie

Hi all, Jack here. We have finally made it to Nabeul, Tunisia!! Here's how it went...

WED 16th...after doing a successful run through in the morning, we packed the set into the van and left for Hull. The boat journey was enjoyable...I ate a huge load of food in the all you-can-eat buffet and we drank some Hoegaardens before sleeping.

Thurs 17th...I was not expecting snow when we drove off the ferry!!! We faffed around for a while in a lay-by trying to figure out where we should put those stickers on the lights so we didn't blind everyone we drove past. Eventually we decided to have a breakfast of coffee and waffles in Bruges and solve the problem afterwards...which we did! Maybe the lack of coffee was why we couldn't be decisive!? Then it was the French open road, with a little stop for food in a Leclerc somewhere. Driving was tough going as it was very snowy. We arrived in the beautiful town of Troyes in the early evening, had a very nice dinner of Boef Bourgnoinge (I think) and went to bed.

Fri 18th...Woke up early to find an inch and a half of snow on the van. We heated it up, scraped ice from the windows and set off to Marseille. We sang songs and played my baritone ukulele as Mariae drove along in the snow. Stopped in the suburbs of Dijon so Emily could send some correspondence while we had a coffee, then got back on the road. As we passed Lyon, the conditions began to get better, and by the time we reached Marseilles the sun was shining, although it was still only 2 degrees! We faffed around trying to find somewhere safe to park in Marseilles before Paddy and I went to meet a friend from Durham who is studying in the city for a year. I ate Boullaingaises (I think thats how you spell it) the signature Marseille dish, which is a not very nice fish soup! I have realised that this trip would be a lot better/easier if I could speak French! Oh well...you work with what you've got...the lines from the show basically!!

Sat 19th...We woke up super early to be at the port for 8.30, which was totally unneccesary as we are still not going anywhere, an hour after we should have left! We sat in the van for some three hours in massive queues inching our way towards various kiosks to have our passports and tickets looked at. Avoided a few slow motion collisions with impatient North Africans before boarding at 11.30 (the supposed time of departure!!) I managed to find Fulham vs Manchester Utd on Canal+, which made me very happy!

Sun 20th...The ferry is expensive.The food on the boat was ridiculously overpriced; we ate a salad and desert menu for 20 euros before retiring last night. I watched a french reality tv show, 'the battle of the choirs', which was so boring I fell asleep! I awoke this morning to sunny skies and a more violent rocking of the ship. I wasted lots of hours watching a nature programme about fish, sharks and octopuses, then a France vs Russia handball match! Now it is almost 3pm and we can see Tunisia. We cannot go into the harbour however, I think we are so late we have to wait for a free period. We have been on the ship for 27 hours now and we were supposed to arrive at 8.30 this morning. Some time today we will get off onto African soil and drive to Nabeul, where I will post this from the hotel. Until then it's more rocking and rolling as we go round in circles in Tunis bay, and Herman Hesse's Steppenwolf...

We finally got off the boat at 6pm, before waiting for another 3 hours in the docks getting through customs. We were on the ship for 30 hours in the end. After making it through customs (thanks go to Emily...we couldn't have done it without her) we drove to Nabeul, and met Hamedi, the festival organiser and his crew. They asked us if we could do the show in English, which made us laugh as we ran through the first few scenes...it sounds much much better in French! We will see about doing it in English, though I think we won't as we can't help laughing! We went for a well earned beer in the in-hotel club before going for some well earned sleep!

Mon 21st...The cast are meeting in the foyer in 5 minutes to put the set up and get ready for our first performance at 12.30 today! I am very excited to be doing my first show on foreign soil!

Speak to you soon

Jaques

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NOTE: This is Stu, TSF's e-marketing placementee [what IS the proper word to use there?!], not Jack who will be the usual author of these posts. I just wanted to post something here to whet potential reader's appetites, as this turkey and stuffing sandwich is doing to mine. There's nothing sadder than an empty blog :(

Travelling stories always make for an interesting read; combining it with the trials, triumphs and tribulations of a travelling theatre troupe means that this blog is bound to be one worth following. We really hope you enjoy it!

Merry early Christmas from Theatre Sans Frontieres!