This year has been chaos and in that chaos I have lost time to do things I love. I read so little I don’t think I can call myself a reader anymore (I know it is devastating), I can’t remember what a gallery looks like and I think I have been to one play and that was a school thing anyway but when I heard that War Horse was coming to Jo’burg, the dramatic part of me noticed but it was when the puppet company toured to some of the schools in the area with Joey as their star attraction I knew that I had to go. The horse is amazing. The engineering of it… This is something I don’t know how to explain. I want to become an engineer and I’ve loved drama my entire life so to see the two combined so seamlessly, effortlessly and with creativity I can’t even imagine was truly breath-taking for me and I made myself a promise that I would see this show.
There was one problem… my final matric examinations started two days before the play which meant that I would have to give up study time to see the production but after a long discussion with the academic side of me the creative side won out and I was going to go. Something which the Teatro often does is sells an entire show (usually an unpopular time) to various schools and mine, being ever so slightly cultural, opted to buy one. This results in cheaper tickets so my mom booked for u. It was for a Friday night and my next exam was only the following Wednesday. So off we went. Me dressed in a glorious black jumpsuit from Factorie (which I can’t show you because it has since shrunk after one wash much to my displeasure. Shame on you Factorie).
I’m sure that everybody living in Jo’burg will know that driving to Montecasino in the evening is never a good idea. We left early but still were forced to spend a gruelling hour in traffic much to my mother’s horror. We get there about twenty minutes before the show starts and we joined the line. This is when my sister mentions that she hasn’t seen any St Mary’s girls and she wondered out loud if we had the right day… No we did not. A quick glance at our tickets confirmed the show was only on Tuesday. We were devastated. We had a cup of coffee and headed home (luckily in less traffic). The problem now was that with my Physics exam on Wednesday morning there was no way I could go. A friend took my ticket and I was left home alone and depressed.
I am very lucky to have a saint as a mother. She remembered that we were baby sitting my little cousin while the rest of her family went to the show. My mother quickly organised that I go with them and she managed to book me a last minute ticket.
So I went dressed in this amazing playsuit which I love. I never used to be able to find playsuits that suit me because the top half of my body is proportionally smaller than bottom so I battle to find something that fits me all round but this season the shapes work for me. I wish I had knee high black socks because that combined with my heeled black ankle boots would have looked amazing with this but my mom’s light ones go nicely as well. I don’t usually wear statement necklaces (honestly I think I’m just too lazy to style them) but I got this for a bargain at Mr Price and I love the subtle clash with the floral pattern, of course.
But honestly speaking I could have been wearing my Pyjamas and I wouldn’t have cared because the show was so amazing it didn’t even matter. I was in love and happy. Sitting there and enjoying the play just made me feel all warm and gooey as if I was a character in a cheesy rom-com. Because my ticket was booked late, I was in the very centre of the very last row on the very top level but that didn’t make a difference either (imagine if I’d been up close). I was on the edge of my seat and exclaiming, not at the story line, at the backgrounds, the acting techniques and of course the puppets (the goose is by far my favourite). I think the rugby-player-looking twenty-something year old in front of me thought I was insane. The show is INCREDIBLE -and I use capitals for a reason. I know they are sold out now here but if ever you get an opportunity to watch it you have to go. It takes the art of making a play and twists it on its head in the most amazing way possible. The music is also out standing and the acting without flaws but it is the puppets, the puppet makers and the puppet masters which awed me the most, so much so I was almost convinced to change career paths. I feel like this is an inadequate explanation and description of the play but I could never give it justice . Well done War Horse and well done players.
Ps maybe I’m biased but let us all note that the horse was designed in our very own Cape town (not a surprise it is so brilliant)
Plain Old Glasses 