Wonderful! Just wonderful...

As you see, the crowd was 'interesting'.....













Just saw the performance 'out on the square'. Except it wasn't really just there, we wandered all OVER the place. Will put in the proper name of the group when I look at the programme at Peter's tomorrow. They are from Spain. All I heard in advance was they did something with suitcases.... Said the people at the market....









But it was much much more. It was all pantomime, not an utterance, grunt or sound. A group of people with only a simple cardboard type suitcase each. At the beginning they were up on the trestles, 'having just arrived and astonished'.







I loved it right from then on. And then they started laughing at the crowd, because they looked 'funny' to them. And it was a good crowd, they started laughing back, not in a mean way. It was purely great. Then they came down and did a sequence where people are trying to be nice and give them italian ice cream.... while photographing them like zoo animals. Only they turned it around and shared with the audience and had their pictures taken too. All very naive on the surface. Then they waved at some 'nurses' on the second floor of the assisted living place on Lendplatz and got invited up, with some of the public. And hung out of winder with them and waved to the audience. Then the audience upstairs got a quick rehearsal, and sang out to the square, waving.












Then my foot hurt, and I thought they were coming back, but they went to the corner, so I didn't see what they were doing, there were hundreds of people crowded about, but it must have been funny.... I rested it for a minute on a pavillion.... Then they went on to the next square in front of a pompous church where there is this dinky little fountain. And they were staring at it, amazed. Water isn't so plentiful everywhere, you know. And then they ran through it, got the audience to run through it, and were so thrilled at the 'miracle' of that, they were getting their hands wet, and running them over the faces of people in the audience, as if to say, 'Isn't that MIRACULOUS?' And yes, I was so up front taking pictures, I got 'anointed', but it was pleasant enough. My synapses were in overdrive, hey.


















Then they opened their suitcases. Each had a photo, most of them baby pictures, and one of a grandmother. And they approached people in the audience, looking questionably at them, 'are you her, are you my lost child?`' At least that is how I interpreted it.... It was very poignant. And THEN...

they marched off that square to the main bridge. A pick up stopped at the light, and they all got in with their suitcases, but got off at the next one. It was extremely funny. And then they started ogling a big car at the intersection, and started piling in. And an accomplice was in back honking at the big car for holding up traffic, and the real ones went off the charts and started honking too, much to the hilarity of the audience. One guy was really pissed, and the audience was really INTO it, and yelled through the window, 'What's the problem, is the BABY coming? Because with THAT gut, I can't see any reason to be annoyed otherwise.' And everyone else was jeering and making fun and laughing so hard the tears were coming down.

And then the big car drove off, and most of the troupe were piled up on one another like a woodpile on the back seat. And drove away, and didn't wait for applause.

Which is too bad, because that was one of the very best things I have seen at La Strada.

Am certain I got some good photos and will post them tomorrow if I ask W. pretty please to use his computer, because Lazarus doesn't want to.

So an hour's rest and it is off to the next event.

Big one...

I love being made to THINK in a nice way, I really do.