Two or three weeks ago, I was offered a nice gig in Singapore, just for the weekend. Mime and juggling on a little podium for a big festival. What a strange experience, Kathmandu and Singapore couldn't be more different. There I was, confronted by cleanliness, order, roads where you wait for the light to go green before you cross rather than throwing yourself into the stream of traffic and letting the cars and motorbikes slip around you like fishes. When the green man appears, a little timer appears above him to tell you exactly how long you have to cross the road. At the festival, there were circus performers, puppeteers, opera singers and statue artists from around the world. Some were friends, most were friends of friends, that's how it goes. Good times were had with the corporate-gig-family, stories were exchanged, some of the jugglers had heard of our Nepali circus company and were very interested to find out more. Look out for Sapana, I told them, some day they will take the world by storm. Two days later, back on the plane. Arriving back in Kathmandu, my first mission was to reclaim Shaun's meteors: a circus prop which was confiscated at Kathmandu airport on my way to Singapore. There, at the Jet Airways office, I waited at the front door. One by one, the office staff came and waited too, and we laughed together in that hallway because no-one had a key to get in. After an hour, a lady came and let us all in. A man searched every drawer and cabinet twice, calling countless people before finding and returning the meteors. I could only laugh: good to be home. Straight to the micro and to work for Monday morning, I had been in the office for less than an hour when a reporter turned up to interview us about the show. Who knows what I said? I should have been in bed, but the show was on in one and a half weeks, Cambridge Rickshaw Theatre Project were arriving that evening, and on top of our rehearsals we had to teach two circus/theatre workshops at the British School.
We had a double bill performance: the Cambridge Rickshaw Theatre Company working with the kids from the refuge, and Shaun and I performing with Sapana. How they managed to make a show in eight days, how we managed to get our circus show ready with so little rehearsal time, I will never understand. But regardless, the crowd loved it. I've always had a thing for trapdoors, so as the show opened, I crouched in complete darkness, trying not to get any dust on my costume. I waited under the stage and stayed very still whilst the audience entered and the speeches were given. Finally the show started, and I heard the thud, thud, thud, of the opening act. This thud was a walkover, and that series of thuds was a roundoff-backflick-kick-layout. Each thud came with it's own ooohs and aaahs, as the Sapana kids delighted the audience.
Around 400 people turned out to watch the show, and Shaun and I have keep getting recognised in the unlikeliest places. People keep asking when we are going to perform again. Our next stop is Dubai, but we're all keen to put on more shows, so stay tuned.
