April 9th, 2011
It really feels like summer has ended and autumn has descended upon us. Saturday started off slow, possibly because it seems like the temperature has really dropped. Joe and I woke up after a long sleep and milled around our flat. Nothing was scheduled early so we had our homemade pizza for breakfast, we read, we did a little internet surfing and finally we did some yoga.
After getting invigorated we left the house at 2pm! I convinced Joe we should buy tickets to a puppet show called Mummenschanz taking place at the Durban Playhouse. Reluctantly I think, Joe made the purchase the other day at Checkers, one of the local supermarkets. I knew he’d enjoy it because from what I read in the newspaper a few weeks ago it was a show like any other by a group of four Swiss puppeteers.
For more info please click here http://www.mummenschanz.com/index.asp?topic_id=122&g=13&m=96
It was a beautiful drive to the playhouse. The sun was shining and the heat seemed to have dissipated because we were able to keep our windows down instead of having the A/C on. We parked the car by City Hall. It was nice to be in the city center to admire all the architecture and people. Walking down the clear streets we could hear drumming and house music mixing with the horns of vehicles coming from the minibus taxis. Groups of people gathered around street performers while others marched on to their numerous destinations.
Joe and I made our way to the theatre and found our seats after wandering around the playhouse for a bit. The show began with two people dressed all in black except for giant white hands atop their torsos. The hands did things like pull the curtains back, point at the audience, clap, wave, and one even grabbed someone in the front row. Laughter could be heard all around.
No one spoke. It was a silent event filled with wondrous, amorphous puppets that would sometimes resemble human and animal forms, but later change in front of our eyes to become something unrecognizable. The thing about the show is that all the puppet forms were able to display and convey emotion that captivated the audience, made us “Ooo and Ahhh”, and giggle sometimes uncontrollably. Occasionally there was a scream of fear from a small child which only made the audience more exhilarated.
During intermission, Joe and I decided to go outside for some warmth as the theatre was super cold. Across the street was a group of Zulu youngsters from 3-20 dancing to the beat of two large drums. They were dressed in traditional skins and beads, and some of the young ladies were even topless. We watched their high kicking and stomping bare feet to the beat of the drum until they stopped a few minutes later and headed back to the theatre for more wonderment.
When the show finally ended we grabbed a muffin and headed back to the car. To our joy and entertainment the group of dancers were still out and this time standing opposite what appeared to be another troop whom they were competing with. We watched the challenging dancing of the girls until all of a sudden one of the young men began headed my way with his head piece in his hands. Before I knew it he had placed it on my head and grabbed both Joe and I by the hands. The young man lead us to where the dancers were and put us on either side of him. We were expected to dance so dance we did. Throwing our legs high in the air and shaking to the beats of the drum. After a few shakes we made our final stomps and exited. Joe’s faith in Zulu culture had been restored.
After such exhilarating showcases of talent we left the city limits to hills filled with sugarcane fields to witness the natural phenomena of millions of barn swallows congregating. While waiting for the swallows, planes flew overhead since we were not far from the airport. Finally, just as the sun set in the distance millions of swallows could be seen and heard fluttering in all directions. It lasted for about 15 minutes and then ended as quickly as it began.
We made our way home through the hills, passed the Sibaya Casino and the numerous cargo ships sitting in the Indian Ocean. Before we got home we took a drive through Wentworth to see the Engine Refinery at night and get a few pictures. In all it was a good day filled with mesmerizing human feats of excellence.
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