Short and Sweet Part II

Click here for the Web site for ticketing and line up information

Last weekend I had my comfortably sized bottom, once again, in the Kilachand Studio Theatre at DUCTAC enjoying, once again, a couple of evenings of delightful Theatre Entertainment with a few nights of ten, ten minute plays. I was trying to work out why I enjoy this format so much. I am a critical baggage at the best of times and am usually quite unforgiving on the Theatre front but somehow Short and Sweet is exempt.  I have come to the conclusion that it is because of the length of the plays. There is naturally a mixed bag of productions in an event of this sort. Usually I would  be super critical of the productions that are less than stellar. But this is not the case.  It seems that ten minutes is enough time for a great production to make a really good impact (and leave you wanting more) and not enough time for a mediocre show to make you want to leave. The overall effect is that you enjoy everything on offer.

Now, again usually, in true drama queen style, I do the nose in the air “Well, you  know Art is not like sport. You can’t compete.” Well I am wrong. The competitive element of Short and Sweet makes it exciting for the participants and gives the audience a change to have a vote and a say in the competition. I am so glad that I have watched the performances on the last showings of each set. It has been great fun being in the audience and getting to hear which plays have come in the top slots and seeing who is going through to the gala performances.



This  past weekend had us swinging from the delightful to the delightfully dreadful.  We had the RAKADS ( Ras Al Khaimah Amateur Dramatic Society)  performance of Driving Me Crazy  which was so bad it was good to watch. Don’t know if the high slapstick was what they were going for but is was what we got. I loved the idea of the GPS with attitude. The play was littered with  easy to identify with local references which made this piece a sure fire crowd pleaser. There is definitely some talent in that group even with this rather wild and woolly production that threw caution to the winds and dared you to rejoice in the silliness.

At the other end of the scale was a refreshing charming one women show that was written, directed and acted by Mina Kici Khattar. Mina gave us an alluring performance with an intimate style in her show "The Meticulous Woman"

 

I thoroughly enjoyed On the Couch – a peek into a couple’s therapy session with a tongue in cheek sassiness. Mike Green and Celia Cookson gave us  a charmingly humorous performance as the troubled couple.

 

Almost as much fun as the show this year has been the effort that was put into the Posters designed by  the groups entering the competition. the Short + Sweet Facebook page is full of great promo posters - some of which I have shown in this blog.

If I have wet your appetite a bit there is more to come from this week’s performances so get down to Mall of the Emirates and enjoy some theatre.

Click here for Short + Sweet Show Timings

I have taken the list of productions from the Short and Sweet Web site that are (so far) in to the Gala Final.

1. THE ROYAL SHAKESPEAREANS'S PRESENT "ROMEO & JULIET"

(JUDGE'S CHOICE WINNER - TOP 30 WEEK 1)

Writer: William Shakespeare. Abridged by Hananah Zaheer & Vikram Ahuja

Director: Salman Qureshi

Cast: Hananah Zaheer (Juliet, Tybalt), Michel Atieh (Romeo), Salman Qureshi (Narrator, Friar, Nurse, Mercutio)



Production : Vikram Ahuja, Aahad Sayed

A traveling troupe is ready to present their Magnum Opus - Romeo and Juliet like never before!
 



 

 



 
 2.LAST DRINKS



(JUDGE'S CHOICE RUNNER UP - TOP 30 WEEK 1)

Writer: Gregory Gould (Canberra, Australia)

Presented by Backstage

Cast: Rohit Prakash (Ben), Aswathi Menon (Mel)

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.A CHARMING AFFAIR

(JUDGE'S CHOICE WINNER - WILDCARDS 1)

Writer: Robert Scott (USA)

Directors: Gemma Taylor, Marcia Irving, Phil Ridley

Presented by the American School of Dubai

Cast: Michelle Pazos (Waiter/Cinderella), Arianna McMechan (Snow White), Ashley Pereira (Cinderella/Waiter), Sarah Syed (Sleeping Beauty)

Snow White and Cinderella meet for the first time in years and talk about their husbands, but soon notice a startling similarity. It's no fairy tale, but things get worse when Sleeping Beauty pops in to tell them about her new man...

 

4. SURE THING

(JUDGE'S CHOICE WINNER - TOP 30 WEEK 2)
Writer: David Ives (USA)
Director: Gautam Goenka
Presented by Backstage
Cast: Asad Raza Khan (Bill), Pooja Khadkikar (Betty) & Gautam Goenka (Waiter)
2 people meet and find their way through a conversational minefield as a bell interrupts their false starts, gaffes and faux pas on the way to falling in love.

 





 
 

 

 



 

 

 

 

5. SAM'S FRIEND

(JUDGE'S CHOICE RUNNER UP - TOP 30 WEEK 2)*
Writer: Marie Dullaghan (Dubai)
Director: Rohit Prakash
Cast: Shihas Salim (Sam), Rashmi Kotriwala (Mother)
There are times when we have to make our decisions all by ourselves.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 











 


 

 

6.THE MAN WHO WAS MUSIC

(JUDGE'S CHOICE WINNER - WILDCARDS 2)

Writer: Aishwarya Jha-Mathur (India)

Director: Rhea Dixit

Crew: Anitha Kulkarni

Production company: Third Half Theatre



Cast: Sanjeev Dixit, Sumedh Kulkarni, Minali Patel, Cmith Sarkar

 

 

 

* RUMPLE SCHMUMPLE finished as Runner-Up in the Judge's choice in Top 30 Week 2. But due to actor availability RUMPLE SCHMUMPLE was not able to take its place in the Gala Final and has been replaced by third place in the Judge's Choice in Top 30 Week 2, SAM'S FRIEND

Backstage's Production of Hamlet in November 2013

It was with a rather angst ridden conscience that I wrote this review and have dithered about  publishing it, which is why it has taken so long to post this, months after the production.

 

I am such a fan of Backstage and all the great work that they do for theatre in Dubai that I am loath to be too critical of what should have been a landmark production for them.

I was disappointed with their "Hamlet." There I have said it. The production fell short of what I have come to expect from Backstage.

 

It seems that maybe the teacher has been surpassed by the pupil. I am pretty sure that in the hands of founding member, Gautam Goenka, it could have been a real winner. Though it was clear that  his mentor, and the show's  artistic director, Shanker Ramachandran, put a great deal of thought into how he would stage this show - his interpretation did not work for me.

Hamlet is one of the most difficult plays to stage well, and yet remain accessible, and I appreciate how very important it is to cut any play down to a manageable length. I admire that the producer recognised that this had to be done, many don't bother. But, oh my word, it was edited without apparent consideration of what are some of the most memorable aspects of this play, and for me, without enough consideration of Shakespeare’s use of verse. The production lost too much of the language and lyrical quality of Shakespeare’s work in the editing process. Of all plays, editing this one is probably the hardest thing to get right and I certainly would have great qualms about undertaking it myself so I admire the effort. It just missed the mark.

It seems to me that too much attention was spent on creating a series of montages and scenes with little or no dialogue. Some scenes were so shortened, that we had actors just miming the action. Why would you do that?  Hamlet is after all, supposed to have pretty good dialogue. It is Shakespeare. It contains some of the best lines in the English literary landscape. 

It also has a brilliant plot. In a nutshell Hamlet (Asad Raza Khan) comes home and finds that his mother "Gertrude" the queen  (Brooke Butterworth) has rather too quickly gotten over her husband’s death. Hamlet is riddled with a racking angst filled grief, he has issues with his subtly Oedipal relationship with his mother and a vengeful attitude to his cuckolding uncle "Claudius"(Kris Morton). He is in love with and loved by the beautiful Ophelia (Priyanka Johri) but his complicated relationship with his mother and his overwhelming feelings of disgust at his mother and uncle’s behaviour taints his view of all women and poisons his love for Ophelia. Brilliant stuff right? Poor Ophelia, in her turn is driven to madness as she becomes  increasingly confused and torn between her lover's shoddy treatment of her (to put it mildly) and her father's and brother's disapproval of her choice of boyfriend.  Ultimately this results in her watery poetic death. All this captured not only in Shakespeare’s words but in subsequent artworks of great beauty.

 

Inspirational stuff this Hamlet. Add to the mix the appearance of Hamlet's father's ghost praying on Hamlet's guilt and baying for revenge for his death. Hamlet is in turns wildly mad and frantic, then depressed and introverted, then manic again, wonderful stuff to get your teeth into. There is a bit of light relief in the form of Ophelia father Polonius the "foolish prating knave" whose character has given the English language a few oft used words of wisdom “never a borrower nor a lender be;” ”to thine own self be true” to mention a couple. Missed from this production (understandably) is the rather black humour of the grave diggers. The plot unfolds, skulduggery ensues, and ultimately, following the true form of Shakespeare’s tragedies, anyone who is anyone dies. Dramatically.

I loved the set. The American University of Dubai venue is a daunting one to use as the stage is so wide. The set design was a delight. It was clever in its full use of the stage area. It had such potential for depth and innovation when applied to the actual production. I loved the use of the shades of grey in the paint work. The drapes that were used to dress the set look great. The promise of a simple set begging to be used had me quite excited for the show to start. But - I don’t think that the director’s use of the stage took full advantage of it - and in some scenes I was flummoxed at why certain groupings were made when there were obviously better options. An example of this was the chapel scene with Claudius that was immediately followed right on top by the bedroom scene with Gertrude. It made absolutely no sense at all to have Gertrude and Polonius squashed on the stage on top of Hamlet and Claudius whilst the audience and actors alike all pretended they were not there. The stage was huge - empty space all over...

Casting the lead in Hamlet is a challenge. You need someone who can act well ,naturally, is able to elicit sympathy from the audience and who has a compelling presence on stage that convincingly portrays the depth and scope of this mercurial character. Asad Raza Khan did the very best with the role that he could do, but he lacked enough of the one ingredient that you cannot learn for the stage. Charisma, you either have it or you don’t and you need it by the bucketful for Hamlet.

In the first half of the play Kris Morton’s Claudius was more of a cuddly bear than a  menacing  political player. In the second half he picked up the pace and was much more on the form that I so enjoyed in “A Few Good Men.” 

Hani Yakan continues to grow in scope and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance of Laertes.

Brook Butterworth can always be trusted to give a fine performance and whilst I felt she was not at her best I particularly enjoyed Act 3 Scene IV and the interaction between Gertrude and Hamlet. The scene in her chambers skittered on the edge of their relationship beautifully.

 

There were good performances by many of the smaller roles too. The overall effect was competent and not at all unwatchable.

 

What distressed me was the treatment of the script and the  poor use of a beautifully designed set.

  

Here are a couple of rave reviews:

 

Up Size Your Life

 

Own The Stage

 

To find out what Backstage are doing at the moment click on here for  their Facebook page and here for their web site.

 

Short and Sweet Dubai 2014

 

 

Last year, around this time, I was telling you all to head on down to DUCTAC (Mall of Emirates) to watch "Short and Sweet" a competitive festival of ten minute plays. This year I am a hollering at you to get down to the Theatre.

This, the second year of what was a highly successful few weeks of fun filled theatre last year, will absolutely be, even better. Practise make perfect after all.

 

Just being in the Kilachand Studio Theatre before the lights went down was a delight. The auditorium was filled with participating theatre peeps, their families, friends and general theatre lovers. I listened in on conversations where actors and producers were networking away. Delighted "Hello! I have not seen you in forever Darlings!" littered the auditorium. "What are you doing?" was being asked by everyone. Hearing something along the lines of  "I am performing in Short and Sweet"  and of course the rejoinders, "Oh wonderful! We're coming. We will see yours next week!" There was more than one "Have you met so and so? You haven't? You must! You would be perfect for a role they need filling next month." Lots of warmth and a general buzz in the air of excitement and fun. A delightful sprinkling of all the Who's Who in the Drama Zoo of Dubai. All this banter  and  conviviality was against a background of great background walk in music. Thanks for that Alex and the team. The right walk in music really set the tone for an evening at the theatre and you guys got it spot on.

 

Last week showcased twenty one short plays varying in subject matter and genres. We were treated to such offerings as the delightfully absurd "Spider men" where  for ten minutes we are flies on the wall  (fall about the place laughing) observing a conversation between two male spiders  living in a world were even a romantic interlude with their spouse could end up with the down trodden husbands being  the dinner of their (clearly not so loving) wives. An ironic twist on who wears the pants in a home.  

 

Our hearts were warmed by the unfolding of the funny, sad story of the changing relationship between an older and younger sibling  in pre-1947 India as they dealt with success, failure and family responsibility.

 

It is always special when locally written plays get showcased and Sweet and Short give ample opportunity for local playwrites to show off their talents. These stand alongside the "imported" plays as equals in scope of subject and quality of the writing.

 

See whats on at the Short + Sweet link here and book your tickets now. I know from experience ( see here)  that if you don't book for the gala performances you may very well land up going home having missed out on the show as the tickets sell out fast.

 

To book your tickets go to   https://www.itp.net/tickets/ or call DUCTAC on 04 341 4777

 

Week 2

Wednesday 12th Feb – 8pm TOP 20 Week 2 (1st Performance)

Thursday 13th Feb – 8pm TOP 20 Week 2 (2^nd Performance)

Friday 14th Feb – 8pm TOP 20 Week 2 (3rd Performance)

Sat 15th Feb – 3pm – WILDCARDS 2 (1st Performance)

8pm – WILDCARDS 2 (2nd Performance)

Week 3

Wednesday 19th Feb – 8pm TOP 20 Week 3 (1st Performance)

Thursday 20th Feb – 8pm TOP 20 Week 3 (2^nd Performance)

Friday 21st Feb – 3pm – WILDCARDS 3 (ONLY performance)

8pm TOP 20 Week 3 (3rd Performance

Sat 22nd Feb – 3pm – GALA FINAL (Preview)

7pm – GALA FINAL (Followed by Awards Ceremony)

Below are my posts from last year. Don't miss out this year. If what I have seen so far is anyting to go by this year will be even better than last year and last year was great.

Short and Sweet 2013 20th Feb

Short and Sweet 2013 28th Feb

the lat last word on Short and Sweet 2013.




 

New Years Eve

 The New Year snuck up and hit us all with the usual surprise. Same as it does every year.  
 

My idea of a good New Year is to be at home with Fireworks. In previous years I have had fireworks from the balcony of our apartment. Bliss for me.  The problem  I have faced has always been  to convince those nearest and dearest to me that this was the place to be. Gently seeing in the New Year with a bottle of Champers and then climbing into bed as the smoke drifts  off after the last firework has done its thing. Who needs a "Knees Up Forget Your Name Party"? Apparently  everyone except me.  Every year I dread the "New Year’s Eve Conversation". Every year I feel like a complete witch because all I want to do is Stay At Home. Bryan wants to have a party. He is a sociable fellow. Me, eh, not so much. Here I will go off at a tangent.  There are people in the world who believe ,well it is a feeling really not so much a belief, that seeing a stunning sunset has no real value if you don’t have someone with you to share that stunning sunset and to feel all warm and fuzzy about it together. I am not like that. I am way too self-involved. Beautiful sunset – check cool. Someone to see it with  ah super cool. Not that sharing is not lovely but I can do all the beauty and awesome stuff on my own and not feel crushed that there was no one to share it with. I don’t do these things on my own because  I have a Man Being in my life who absolutely loves to do sharing things who ,even after all these years together, still forces me out of myself and into doing stuff, patiently. He never, ever refers to the fact that he has to do this every single time we go out. 

Anyhooo.
 

Each  year I land up negotiating with myself and then Bryan. This is now it goes....If I have been particularly hermit like the previous New Year’s Eve I feel honor bound to make an effort. If I went out  on the town the previous year I find it very difficult to give  up my stuck in the muddy rut  notion of staying in. I don’t even mind being left at home alone so that Bryan  (and whoever else is about) can go and have a party. But that is not how the world turns. The last thing any self-respecting person wants to say on arriving at a party to celebrate the year gone by and share a few moments of hope of what the new year will bring  is “My partner stayed at home.” It is like code for saying "My wife and I had a rip roaring fight and I left the house slamming the door behind me so I am here on my own." Defiantly.  So you see every year is a tightrope in our house over what we will do for New Year's Eve. Well it is inside my head. I am pretty sure Bryan is oblivious to my agonising until a day or so before when someone (me) has to say something about not wanting to go out for New Year's Eve.AGAIN.

 

As 2013 closed in around me I realised that it was my turn to be a good sport. Last year we watched the fireworks from our apartment balcony.

Younger son Cameron was home for New Year  and my nephew William was visiting Dubai for the first time and, as it happens, we no longer have a balcony to watch stunning fireworks from. All the signs were lining up to a Going Out type of New Year. Around the time that all these thoughts were whirling around my sad person brain getting me worked up about what to do and how to do it bla, bla, bla my friend Patricia said that she had found a brilliant venue for NYE and did we want to join their party? It was a sign.  The sign said “Say Yes”. So we were organised. New Year at a lovely venue with what promised to be great view of the upcoming world record breaking fireworks display. And great company. Perfect right? Well of course not. This is me we are talking about.
 

Now that the venue was arranged I was all over worrying about what the traffic would be like. I was worrying about what we were going to wear. Bryan, of course, was not worrying. He is incapable of worrying about what he is going to wear. My preferred outfit for New Year is jeans with a floppy top and no make-up. This evening clearly required more effort and it would be outdoors and high up on the 35^th floor, so as to get the best views, which is very important, but might be a bit chilly. So I was all set up for worrying about that too.
 

All this clothes worrying had me doing something I have never done before in my whole and entire life. With little time and the decision making skills of a squirrel faced with one too many nuts to carry I bought up the whole bloody shop and took everything home thinking that I would decide what I would wear in the comfort of my home and I would return the clothes that I did not wear to the store. I felt like a thief or as if I was bunking from school. It felt quite exhilarating walking out of the shop with a tonne of clothes that I had no intention of keeping. So that worry was sorted out. I should mention that I did not return any of the clothes..... Note to self  - do not do that again.  
 

Now the traffic worries. Obviously I have no control over the traffic but that did not stop me from  becoming almost hysterical. I had to find out what every other guest at the table would be doing to sort out their transport dilemmas at this most horrific of times of year for getting a taxi and getting in and out of congested areas. I agonised over booking a taxi. Who am I kidding on New Year’s Eve -  a taxi ??|#%#!$$ - imagine hysterical laughter. I even went and found a limo service that would be available for a pick up and drop off on NYE for the snip of a price of AED 999.00 if the pick-up and drop off happened over a three hour period. Imagine more hysterical laughter at:
 a. the price and
b. the time span allowed for PARTYING.  
After much investigating I announced to Bryan ( who was not worrying)  that we would leave our car  at the Ibn Batutta metro Station and take the metro from there and walk to the hotel from the nearest station to it. This required a quick change of plans from high heels to walking boots in the wardrobe department.   Alternatively, I suggested, we would drive to the other side of the highway nearest the hotel and walk from the metro station to the hotel having used the sky bridge over the highway to beat ( much evil laughter ) The Traffic. So much plotting to have a bit of fun.

 

I think I have set you up appropriately don’t you? Are you ready for what happened?
 

Firstly, to get into the spirit of jollification, I spoiled myself by booking an appointment to have my hair blow-dried. Another first time for me. No I lie. I had my hair done specially for one other event in my life, my wedding. The thing is that there is a hair salon around the corner from my office in the Hotel so really I would be stupid to not take advantage of the 50% staff discount right? Except that I messed up my appointment. There I was getting ready for a meeting at work when I got a call from the hairdresser saying “ Where are you? You had an appointment for 2 pm?" Oh my giddy aunt. What to do. I was supposed to be in a meeting. Bugger this, it was NYE. I got my poor colleague to cover for me in the meeting and I deserted my post to get my hair done saying “I will be half an hour late for the meeting...." as I rushed out of the office.

The lady who was doing my hair was taking forever. My hair is thick and holds moisture, I know this, but really I can do a crap job of drying my hair in 20 minutes. So surely the stylist should be able to do a good professional job in ½ an hour? Am I asking too much? Maybe. Anyway as the half hour ticked by I had to say “Stop sweetie I have to leg it back to a meeting. Finish up and I am out of here”. I tore back to the office and into the meeting room. It was dark and empty. You guessed it. The meeting was cancelled. I did however have half a hair doo done for NYE.

I got home  after work and lazed about because I was so super organised.  I chose what to wear from my Department Store contraband. Faffed about doing my nails and having a shower and chatting and being all calm and mellow. Then got into a last minute panic because it turns out I was not as super organised as I thought I was and landed up rushing myself to be ready in time to go. All  the male members ( did you notice that witticism?) of the household waiting for me downstairs. PATIENTLY. 

We did eventually make it out of the Villa and into the traffic. Which, as it turned out, there was not much of on our side of town. There was so little traffic that we drew near to the Marina Bryan announced that we were going in. Things were looking good. We were going to risk all and drive right up to the Hilton Hotel on The Walk. My heart was in my mouth. OOOOO the risks involved in getting caught up in traffic and sitting in it for hours while the year slipped past us. The gods looked kindly on us and we were at the hotel, valet parking the car, within five minutes. Anyone who knows The Walk on JBR in Dubai  knows that this is a rare occurrence in that part of town. Obviously everyone had made other plans knowing ( as I did ) that the traffic would be horrible. SUCKERS - oh and thank you.

So this is where we spent our new year. Pure. At the JBR Hilton. It was so pretty. Really we were in the best spot.

 

 

 

The fireworks were magnificent.  Click below for the full feature.

 

 

 

The Food was fantastic. Who would have thought that a catered event at New Year could be a mouthwatering treat. Rushed kitchens and so many people to feed usually mean that the food at big events is never anything to write home about.  But hats off to the Hilton. Each course was a surprising delight, a fusion of foods that was unexpected  and delicious. Without anything else in the evening  the food would have been a treat. But together with the company and the fireworks well it just made  the evening so special. The music was  hip hoppin' bobbin' and the company was fabulous.

 

As usual if I  get my arse into gear and actually do go out I have a brilliant time. I may have had an itsy bitsy teeny weeny bit too much to drink...  so I cannot accurately say much more as it all got terribly warm and fuzzy  and oh you know I was not paying attention to the fun I was too busy having it.  Especially after my son and nephew spiked a couple of my drinks and gave me doubles when I thought I was getting singles, but what the hell it was New Year.

 

 

 

 

The Peeps on our table with party hats and winning smiles.

 

We wound our way home in the early hours of the morning walking through the Jumeriah Beach Residences and Marina to the metro passing revelers sharing a bit of good New Year cheerfulness.

 

I woke up very, very, very, late on the 1st of January. Everyone should. I did spare a thought for parents of small children who cannot ease out of their New Year hangovers. That is if they are so lucky as to get one. I  thanked my lucky stars that I was so done and dusted with that business of looking after small people as I groaned and reach for the headache pills, tossed a handful ( or maybe more)  back with a glass of water and went back to sleep.

 

Next year I might not even need encouraging to get out and about at New Year. I am not making any promises but if there is transport and tipple  and Top Notch company I might just venture out two years in a row.

 

Talking Of Books on the 14th of December

 

I have had the great privilege of being a guest on Talking Books a couple of times now as a Book Champion and as a Book Reviewer. I have loved the opportunity to be a part of this endeavour. Well I would wouldn't I?

• I do rather like the sound of my own voice, 
• a lively discussion about anything energises me,
• and anything to do with books is right up my ally.

Talking of Books is a perfect joy fest for someone like me.

On the 14th December I trotted  off to the studios of Dubai Eye 103.8 for my first time at being a co-host. Woo Hoo.

I was a little more relaxed this time.  As it turns out rather foolishly. I felt that co-hosting would be a doddle compared to being a Reviewer or Champion because I would have the host and the aforementioned peeps  as "up-fronters" and I would be able to pipe up every now and then with a few pearls of wisdom. Hummmmm. With this in mind I read the adult books once through and made a few notes. The children's book proved to be hugely popular in the library which meant that I could not get it out for months and months. "No problem"  thought I. I would buy the book. I went to the book stores to get a copy. There was not one copy to be had. Anywhere. I could only get the audio book. Which I thoroughly enjoyed listening to but,well it is not quite the same as reading the book now is it?

I arrived at the studio and was met by Chrissie and Mustafa who said that the  show's host John MacDonald had been called away on business and Chrissie was stepping in at the last minute. "No worries" thinks I  in a blasé fashion, "we will have the Lead Reviewer and the Book Champion and things will be just peachy." 

And for the first hour of the show things were. We had a fabulous time with Frank Dullaghan doing a well thought out job of his review of  Ruth Ozeki’s “A Tale for the Time Being”. One of my best reads of 2013. It is a delicious, dense, daring, book and everyone must read it now! Below is the link to our discussion:-
Talking of Books Part 1 on 14th December 2013 - A Tale for the Time Being

and here is a review of the book from NPR

As our lovely time with Frank came to an end I could not help but notice that the Book champion was nowhere to be seen. Panic started to set in. Chrissie was stepping in at the last minute and I had not done nearly enough research on  the authoress Rewa Zeinati. I had only read her delightful collection of Facebook posts turned book once through. I was frightened and deeply ashamed of myself. How could I be so lackadaisical!!!!! Thank ye gods for Chrissie. I think we did a pretty bang up job under the circumstances. The  bold, brave Rewa joined the show for the last half an hour of the Book Champions session and we loved having her with us so much that we sort of encroached on the children's hour. You know how women talk..... For anyone living in Dubai do get a copy of Rewa's book - Nietzsche's Camel Must Die. It is a great dipping in and out of collection and you get a delightful intimate view of who she is and what she thinks. Here is the link to pod cast of this part of the programme: Talking of books part 2 on the 14th December 2013

Don't you just adore the creative, fantastical cover of the book? I want this piece of art hanging on my walls! The inside flap of the book opens out to give the full picture - sadly not shown here.

 

Rewa Zeinati will be speaking at the Emirates Literature Festival so book your tickets now HERE to get your copy of her book signed.

 

You can find out more about  Rewa on the following links:

 

goodreads.

 

sampsoniaway

 

You can read her blog: Rewas Page

 

And you can follow her on Twitter:

RewaZee

 

 

 

 

 

The final segment of the show is for the younger readers and that week the sassy young duo of Xavier and Ammelie had us entranced and delighted with their review of John Boyne’s “Noah Barleywater Runs Away”. There were some surprisingly mature observations from these two fine young people. You can listen to them here:Talking of books part 3 on the 14th December 2013

 If you enjoyed "The Boy In The Stripped Pyjamas" you will love this coming of age read. Not quite as harrowing as "The Boy in The Stripped Pyjamas" but still  a sensitive and well drawn-out tale of family sadness and hope.

Three hours of reader heaven. Tune into Dubai Eye at 10 every Saturday or log on to the Talking Of Books Podcasts  and listen at your leisure.

Finally.

At last  the real truth.

Visiting Gaborone for a Birthday Party

Welcome to Botswana

 

You might remember that a month ago I said I would write more about my recent lovely holiday to Gaborone and Harare.  I did a good job of that didn’t I?

 

Honestly where is the time going?  I mostly blame (because I can)  the fact that we  moved. Everything for the next  year or so that goes wrong or I don’t do will be blamed on The Move. In case you had not picked up on that already.....

In my last blog ( via my rather traumatic first sighting of the new airport) I mentioned that the Gaborone landscape had changed a bit. Well, the airport was just the beginning of the surprises. The day after I arrived I was driven about for a quick catch up on what the city had been up to in my absence. There, sat shimmering in the heat  of the CBD, was a clutch of tall buildings where previously there had been a sad, lonely, mocking ( or as it turned out rather promising) road network. Look at it now! All grown up and happening.

                               Nicked off the internet. Not my own footage by the way.

Office buildings. Hotels. Shopping centres full of coffee shops and other assorted opportunities for you to part with your hard earned cash. There are developments on the way to the airport, around the diamond sorting  business - I guess.  It was impressive to see so much growth. Generally, I love things that stay the same. I am not an early adopter of changes and ideas but I do understand that growth is important so I was heartened to see so many new shiny buildings. I felt that as long as the character of Gaborone remained intact (and there was water available) I could live with the new stuff. Especially as much of the new is better than what was there before and civically edifying to boot. But not too edifying as that would be very un-Gaborone like and make me nervous. Of course there  are places that remain unchanging. Comforting.

Sitting on Sharon and Shaun’s veranda watching the bird life flit about the Phakalane Golf Estate was not only relaxing but oh so pretty. There are pockets of pretty in Gaborone. I forgot how much I love having bird life about. How can one forget that? My heart sang sitting there listening to the bush twitch and tweet in the buzzing, shimmering, warmth of the desert. I saw Egyptian Geese, Starlings, Francolins, Weavers, louwreis, mouse birds, guinea fowl, doves and a gazillion different LBJ’s. Heaven I tell you, Heaven.

The other thing I forgot was how ridiculous the traffic gets in Gaborone at "rush hour" it really is quiet astonishing when one considers how small Gabs is. It has no bloody right to traffic jams.

I loved visiting Gaborone and seeing all the lovely, special people that live in this grubby little town. The people really make it.

The bonus of it being Sharon’s Birthday (and let us not forget - the reason for me being in Gaborone) was that she had a Birthday Party and that meant that at her party I could catch up with many old friends. Not only from Gaborone but from Harare and father afield. Sharon  and Shaun really know how to put together a bunch of people for a good knees up.

It's my party and I will sing to a water bottle if I want to!



      

We can dance if we want to and thow our inhibitions away.

 

I was too busy quaffing drinks to take pictures myself so I have borrowed these from Sharon's face book and tweaked them a bit. I wish I could show you the divine Gloria (Maa) Jacques (true to her ageless form) with her outlandish new pink streaked silver fox hair doooooo and her timeless collection of bold and beautiful rings. Brian Jacques her adoring husband was in fine form and looking better than I have seen him in years, clearly his new responsibilities at the University are doing him the world of good.

I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with Wayne Osterberg who seems to flit between living in Australia and Botswana. I can see the benefits of being in both places but oh my goodness how do you choose one over the other.  From now on Mr Osterberg will be "Wayne the Boomerang".

A lovely man, that  I did not know from a bar of soap, cleaned my specs! He just took them off the end of my nose and cleaned them. Always an appreciated if rarely offered service to someone such as myself. Somehow my glasses always seem to be smudged. I do the same thing to drinking glasses. How is it that I can always identify my glass by the greasy fingerprints prints all over it?  But I digress back to the peeps.I am reliably told (by Ange Stevenson in case you were wondering) that the old timer friends from Harare were given a stern warning by Sharon that they were to "Behave Themselves". Really what was she thinking?

  

I met people that I have only known  by reputation  via their relationship with Sharon.  I met the delightful (yet shy in a surprising way) Aldo Brincatt. Aldo (with Others) is putting on what I am sure will be a festive show at the end of the month. So if you are in Gaborone. Get down to the Theatre on the 30th November. 

I met the Charming Mirabel and her singing economist husband Nick who everyone I know in Gaborone talks about as if I should know them. It was almost a relief to finally be able to put faces to the peeps.

Old Friends with new friend!

All this catching up was done in-between imbibing large amounts of vodka, dancing about in an ungainly manner and falling on my bum  - as you do. Oh and making a small speech. Which, as I am sure the whole world knows, one should never do on an empty stomach with a few vodkas down ones gullet. 

Sober as a judge.

Live music was provided by the gorgeous members of SMS - So Much Soul.  

S.M.S fronted on this occasion by the Nick



 

The food looked totally delicious but I was so busy being a social butterfly that for once in my food centred life I did not get to eat anything till the very end of the evening were I sampled ( well scoffed down like a piggy wiggy) the deserts. YUMMY.

The Party was a roaring success.

I love the small townness of Gaborone. I loved that I could have a good old chin wag with everyone that lives there and  catch up on what they were up to. I am without a doubt a small town gal. I really don't mind everyone knowing my business  - as long as I know theirs! By the by.... it is about bloody time you organised a wedding Partick Marsay... I love the instant warmth that comes from a small community. It was great to be picked up at the airport by Steve Pezarro and begin jabbering at the poor man as if I had seen him yesterday. I am sure he was relieved to be able to drop  me off at the Berringtons  (hosts extraordinaire) so that I could then continue to jabber up a storm  in a catch up session with Lindy. The next morning (still jabbering) I was able to walk a few house down the road and spend time chatting around the breakfast  table as people came and went in the busy Pezzaro household. Casual and friendly and the company just delightful.  I talked sooooo much.

And there is never enough time is there? Maybe if I had planned the trip a bit more in advance I could have seen a few more people and maybe I would have thought to take a drive out to Mokolodi but I did not and it is not a train smash. There will be another time. It might take as many years to get me there again ( I hope not) but it will happen.

It was so special to see that people do not change. There may be the odd new wrinkle, or kilo lost or found. There were lovely children all grown up, but other than that people stay the same. It’s a good thing.

I felt loved and welcome and my  heart opened up and did a little happy dance. I drank too much, ate too much, and loved seeing special friends. I loved catching up with Gennai and Fred and dropping in unannounced on the Bay's family with poor Nick suffering a concussion and seeing their lovely girls so composed and just delightful.

I felt like I was given a little bit of a life rejuvenating elixir by just being there with special people. How many time can you say "Special People" before it gets tired? I got much needed advise from  a trusted wise friend -  thanks Nicola.  I was energised by the whole trip and had very mixed feelings getting on the plane to go to Harare. I was leaving Gaborone reluctantly, wanting more time there, but also excited about going home for the first time since Dad died.