The Cafeteria Opera
This entry was posted on 7/30/2009 8:46 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
The Cafeteria Opera
Every so often art and life collide only to result in what could be considered a journey; a collective moment of simutaneous reflection; a universally telepathic dialouge. Last Tuesday, this is excactly what occured in a steamy, crowded University cafeteria in Southern Ethiopia. The catalyst for this particulary vibrant fraction of time, was none other than One Love Theater.
We took the show on the road for 6 days, 5 of which were relatively dissappointing. For days on end we just seemed to walk on the road with a bunch of cows. Just kidding. We had high expectations for the show as it is based on a new format that we feel is a creative and professional step forward. The new show effortlessly blends development and art while also addressing Ethiopian issues from the often underutilzed though highly effective Ethiopian perspective. The show included a cast and crew of 27, including a 9 person band. Needless to say we had set high standards and we couldn't seem to meet them for the majority of the tour. Just couldn't get the groove. That is until the occurence of what will go down in history as the "Caferia Opera".
The floor of the cafteria was literally covered in injera (the staple food of Ethiopia made from one of what many to consider to be one of the first domesticated crops, though now many simply refer to it as the Ethiopian "pancake"). The word that something was going down in the cafteria spread like fire, by the time the show began nearly 2,000 people had shown up. After a brief but great stand-up comedy performance from a One Love cast member/comeidan the first notes rung out and immediately there was something different from other performances. What ensued over the course was similar to the spinning house sequence in the Wizard of Oz.
Both cast and audience in the cafeteria were transported to another World. However, it was not a World in which Ethiopia is not considered one of its "poorest" nations and it was not a World in which "fight" to stop HIVAIDS is not dependent upon grandiose, expensive and invasive programs. Though it was a World of hope, thought and wonder. 
One Love. One Fight.
