Rocking Hilton...

We went off the the Hilton Witness Arts festival this last weekend... where Dirt was totally sold out... there were people sitting in the isles and along the sides of the stage... impromptu theatre in the round... lovely. How divine to perform for such a massive amount of people... We arrived just in time for our technical rehearsal sans step ladder... Which we forgot in Joburg. Of course. The theatre rocked and the technician / stage manager Romi also rocked. We achieved all of our lighting stages... AND... we had a programmable lighting board. Very rare. Very cool. We plotted lights, did our run through and then hit the hardware stores in search of a new step ladder. James made me listen the AC/DC THE WHOLE TIME! DADADADAAAAA... THUNDER!!!!!! Gr angry music. Mm. But he assured me that he would stop as soon as we found the ladder.... 10 HARDWARE STORES LATER. I ate chocolate and mock headbanged.

It was freezing cold oh-so. The night before I had gone out for dinner and was told that it was like 40 degrees in Hilton and that the people were passing out from heat exhaustion. I didn't take a coat. I totally forgot that Hilton's weather is schizophrenic... It was so cold I brought a jumper and got Nick to pack my coats (he was arriving the next day). The next day was so hot we could hardly breathe! I mean - what is that?

Nick arrived... just in the Nick of time... Qwa Qwa. The ladder with the AC/DC soundtrack had to painted black... of course it did... and well - it hadn't actually dried. Nick arrived from Jo-burg 10 minutes before our first show with the original forgotten ladder and saved the day... or show.

The Witness newspaper said that 'The piece is sometimes crude, but it is always funny — often very funny indeed.' Margaret von Klemperer

It was a big weekend. I had my birthday there as well - and got spoiled rotten by Nick - brought a vintage hat at the flee market - played to a full house - received massive applause - all in all a very very good day.

We also saw some amazing amazing theatre. Particularly Tree Boy... a complete feast of visual delight. I just loved loved loved it. Beautiful work by a massive and highly creative team lead by Neil Coppen.

Neil Coppen's Tree Boy - photo by Sian Cohen

Now we are back in Johannesburg in the throws of work... But the distant sound of applause is still with me. The AC/DC ladder is living out his death metal torchered life, alone, in the back of the Hilton Boys Theatre, in the dark... Quietly drying. Thunder!