A quick post to catch up
Since our last post, we’ve had no internet service so we haven’t been able to write. There is too much to say at once so here’s a quick rundown:
- We flew to Durban, which is absolutely beautiful.
- Spent the day at Operation Bobbi Bear, a crisis center for children who have been raped. By far the most moving day of our trip here.
- Visited and performed at The Agape Orphange, a home for 64 children who have lost their parents to AIDS. If you can get a hold of it, watch the HBO Documentary “We Are Together” which follows these kids singing as a choir.
- Flew back to Cape Town and returned to the JL Zwane Center (where we held our first workshop) and had a follow up meeting with their staff to discuss what was successful about the workshop and how we can improve for next time.
- Took a van to the five townships surrounding Cape Town where the students who participated in the workshops live. We went to their homes, visited their families, and spent time in each community. (By “homes,” picture a house made of corrugated tin sheets the size of a tiny Manhattan studio apartment. Now picture 4-6 people living there. But those people are also watching Oprah and talking on cell phones. It’s a very odd combination of poverty and modern technology.)
- Last night we saw Tshepang, a play about the raping of a nine-month old baby by her father and the devastation it brings to their tiny community, by writer and director Lara Foot Newton who we met and talked with afterward. She woud love to bring the show to New York and I hope she can. It’s a moving piece that everyone should see. The lead actor is incredible.
- Tonight we are seeing the South Africa production of Beauty and the Beast, starring Talia Kodesh who performed in our Johannesburg concert with us, and a number of other cast members we met since we’ve been here. Our final night in South Africa!
Jen Bender, Artistic Director
3 years ago