Each morning, fueled by caffeine, we boarded on our beloved bus. Upon arrival, we attracted the curiosity of the local children. Every day, before the festival, as some people built the stage, hauled equipment, and got into costume, others painted the faces of eager children—Lebanese and Palestinian flags, hearts, question marks, cedar trees and Spiderman were among the most popular face adornments.
The festivities usually started with live music. Our musicians interpreted popular children’s songs, playing Oud, flute, saxophone, tambourine, and a number of different types of drums. Local children often joined the band on stage while the crowd sang along as well, with many spontaneous dancing in front of the stage.
Theatre performance from Al-Jana's Friday mornings
Then, a short performance developed in Al-Jana’s Friday morning art group was staged by local children. With wings fastened to their backs, the children laid on the stage around a mat. As music began to play, they slowly rose and folded the mat upright to produce a miniature house, with one child standing inside. The others gathered various ornaments scattered about the stage, such as little windows and a door, and attached them to the house. Once assembled, the performers danced around the house, holding aloft giant paper-mache keys and gourds while the crowd clapped with the music. All week long the piece was performed to express issues related to personal rights and freedoms.
Clowning and breakdancing
After the house was carried away, clowns climbed up on stage. Their performance ended with two giant human pyramids consisting of all eleven performers, which drew loud applause of amazement from our eager crowds.
The first act was about reading. One of our visiting acrobats from Sweden, who works for Clowns Without Borders and came to Lebanon especially for the festival, performed a variety of different physical feats with the help of the rest of the performers—such as standing atop another member’s shoulders and then falling back into the hands of the rest of the group—all while she read a book aloud.
The next act featured two performers and a tool that was quite mysterious to most of the crowd : a unicycle. Many of the children, in fact, had never seen a unicycle, and were therefore amazed. It was followed by a dance show, with two performers executing a number of strenuous break dancing moves that included flips and balancing on only one hand. These moves were also new to most of the audience, and they greeted the performers’ flipping and flying with wild cheers.
Next acts included international clowns and acrobats. One clown from Denmark and a local Lebanese one, staged an elaborate mime act involving a ball and, once again, a book. Two Swedish female acrobats then performed an amusing and impressive acrobatic scene involving a book, in order to promote the notions of reading and communal learning. As they twisted and wrapped around each other in incredible positions, the audience was visibly captivated by the strength and skill being exhibited on stage. One of them once balanced upside down on the other’s head—without using her hands.
Juggle
The juggler came from behind the crowd, standing on his drummer’s shoulders. He started juggling three balls, but quickly moved up to four and then five. They acted exceedingly silly and eliciting a lot of laughs. For example, at one point, while juggling plastic pins, he whacked himself with every pin in hand, until he ultimately knocked himself out and collapsed. This act, with both skills and slapstick, was among the favorite.
Another slapstick routine that garnered a lot of shrieks and smiles was a skit involving an extremely realistic stuffed ferret that kept jumping out of the hands of a clown and into the audience. Other shows included an impressive show of strength and power by two bodybuilders, a young man dressed up as an old woman who swings long tassels around his body, and naturally a final human pyramid.
Street theatre
In mid-April we welcomed Carmela Lecce and Jorg Grunet, two professional actors from Italy. Cam and Jorg collaborated with local trainers to produce a short dramatic play with kings, fairies, and monsters to deal with important topics such as equality, forgiveness and justice. During our weeklong tour of Lebanon our performers staged the play every day in front of children and their families, who proved highly receptive to the story’s moral message.
Final parade
Each day was concluded by a final wild parade led by our resident giant on stilts, followed by a train of rowdy performers, children, and their families, along with many of our friends from abroad. Cam and Jorg, the Italian theater artists, built masks, streamers, floats, and created special costumes for the parade that were distributed to the participants everyday. As we snaked through the neighborhoods, scores of confused, surprised, and cheerful faces lined our routes, staring at the crazy costumes, listening to the loud music, and smiling on the mass of merry children in tow. Our procession brought communities closer to each other, as many onlookers joined our boisterous parade, and laughed and sang with their neighbors.
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