23 January


Monday 23 January

Bang Muang School

 

Farewell

 

Breakfast with Lee, and he and Mariella and their kids wave us off when we leave with Mr. Wee in the songtheuw at 8.30 for our next school - they are taking a taxi back to Phuket later this morning and catching a flight back to Kuala Lumpur and then continuing on the journey they were taking to Australia. Inter-Asian air fares are very cheap - all we had to pay was Lee's £59 Kulala Lumpur-Phuket-Kuala Lumpur flights and his living expenses for 4 days up here in Khao Lak, and he paid for his family. They all had a great time, and wished they could have joined us for longer.

 

Today we go to Bang Muang School - we roll up in the songtheuw, and Haggis and I leap out to find someone to liase with and work out what we are doing and where. As always, this is easier said than done!

 

Sixty - no, 150 - no, 350!

 

A NICE BIG AUDIENCE AT BANG MUANG SCHOOL - JO IS JUST HAVING HER "ACCIDENT" WITH THE KNIFE. YOU CAN SEE MARTHA AND TRENT WITH THEIR GREAT COSTUMES AND GHASTLY FALSE TEETH TO THE REAR OF THE STAGE IF YOU CLICK IN TO GET AN ENLARGEMENT

 

The big hallFrenzied translating phone calls via Somchai, and we start to set up the show in the big sala before the expected arrival of our first 60 workshop-ers, so that we can progress straight on with the show after the first workshop. But, to our horror, though not really to our surprise, more than 150 children suddenly arrive - we can't possibly run workshops for that many at once - it would be chaos! (We managed 90 children at one time once, but 60 really is the limit if you are to achieve anything really useful and worthwhile.) So we say, "OK, we'll go with the show first, and then do the workshops later - bring on any more audience you've got." There must be just over 350 children in the end, and they really loved the show (which, it has to be said, is getting better and better every day).

 

We pack away the show, and run a workshop for 60, and then it's time for lunch - hot, bony, fish (fish that fights back!) in a fiery sauce - thank goodness there is also always masses of rice and the ubiquitous but delicious Thai omelette!

 

Encore!

 

We thought we were going to run a workshop this afternoon for the older children, but the school staff thought the show so good that they ask us to do another show for these older students instead of a workshop. We are flattered, though rather irritated at having to get the whole show off the songtheuw again - but performers are perfomers, and they always want to perform, so we set it up again and do another show for about 170 older students, who, literally, land up rolling in the aisles!

 

Back to the ranch - more hours in the intenet office, dinner, more badge cutting-out and bed.

 

24 January