Final Bow, For Now

We arrived in Grafenwoehr after a beautiful ride through the countryside of Franconia, this particularly picturesque section of the country. We went back into the Tower Inn on base. (This tank in the photo at right is one of the few I saw on the bases. I'm sure I wasn't supposed to photograph it.) Tonight's show starts early so we will eat dinner afterward. (If you are keeping track, this is the same theatre where we saw Agnes of God a few weeks ago.) Tonight's selection is called Miss Nelson is Missing, a comedy. It is again directed by Joline Powell.

The play for children tells the story of a too-nice elementary school teacher who lets her class get away with murder because of her lack of discipline. One day she doesn't show up for class and the substitute is a harsh disciplinarian who makes the students actually work. The students are so upset by this turn of events that they go out to find Miss Nelson to get her to come back. Meanwhile, they are studying for the "big test" and doing better than ever. After the test, Miss Nelson returns to a grateful class. Only one of the students has figured out that the substitute was Miss Nelson in a bad wig and fake nose...

Okay, so it's not Shakespeare. The kids like it.

After the show, Joline took us for Thai food with a small group from the cast and crew. She is doing wonderful work in her new position as Entertainment Director of this base. She may do Avenue Q next season. That would be controversial here (it has strong gay content and hilarious 'puppet sex,') but she is a determined woman who is eager to build a significant theatre here with a sizable following. My bet is that she will succeed.

The next morning we pressed on to Stuttgart, another place we had been before. Last time it was for the drama, The Mousetrap; this time a comedy: A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is Shakespeare! The first one we've seen by this author. Actually, we heard that this is the first Shakespeare that has ever played this theatre in Stuttgart (which is over 30 years old.)

The Entertainment Director (and director of both productions) here in Stuttgart is Richard Roberts, also new at his job, like Joline, but much more experienced having worked at theatres on other bases for many years and directed a lot. These two places could not be more different. It's a good example of the diverse conditions at the different bases. In Stuttgart you a state-of-the-art theater that seats about 190 people, with all the latest lighting and sound equipment, two lobbies - one with a bar, the other for coffee and desserts, and a strong following in the community. They also have access to actors who work in a town which has two major and several smaller professional theatres in it.

By contrast, Graf (as we in the business call it :)), has not had an operating theatre for several years. Their "theatre" is a gymnasium in which they have constructed a stage. They have 8 lighting instruments, one of which isn't working properly. The community is not yet accustomed to attending plays, so the audiences are small. They use folding chairs (or cushions for the kids) and the heating/cooling is controlled by someone who has nothing to do with the theatre, so it can go on and off without any notice. At the performance we attended exhaust fans were on, creating a loud hum that made it difficult to hear the actors. They had no clue how to turn them off.

Still, Joline has big plans for the place. She has an opportunity to build a theatre in the shell of this building, which could work because it has a very high ceiling and no columns (it was a basketball court - the markings are still on the floor.) She is in the midst of creating more programming, encouraging involvement of community members, gathering support from the MWR folks who oversee the Program.

Throughout this experience, we found that each of the locations has its advantages and challenges. What is inspiring, is that wherever we went the participants in the programs work exceedingly hard to provide the best experience for their audiences and for the all of the volunteers working on the shows. Community theater doesn't have the "success/fail" element of professional theatre and that's an advantage. While they strive for quality, they are doing what they do just for the love of it. The "community" of Community theater is a large one. Jim told me that the US Army division is the largest section of the American Association of Community Theaters.

As I board the plane for my flight home, I am reflecting back on this experience. There has been a lot of driving, and driving and eating, and driving and eating and sleeping. Oh, and then we saw the plays and met the people. And had some fascinating conversations. And saw some awesome sites. And felt welcomed wherever we went.

I’m not sure whether I would do this again, but I am glad I did it this time. I couldn’t shake the feeling I was missing something at home (aside from the obvious, that is.) During the summer when I spend a longer period of time in Italy with the Symposium and Retreat, it doesn’t feel quite the same.

As long as I can remember I have had wanderlust. I want to go everywhere and see everything that’s out there. Mostly, I want to engage different people, learn about their lives, share ideas and art and creativity and a certain kind of warmth that comes from mutual understanding and engagement in a common goal.

I’ll keep looking. Stay tuned.

Separated by a Common Language

I'm sure I am already forgetting many of the great expressions that Eva and Annette have been teaching me from their homeland (Canada.) So many evocative turns of phrase. Here are a couple I want to be certain to remember (and use!) One evening when we were at dinner with a particularly loquacious individual, Eva told me later that "her mouth was going like a whipporwill's arsehole." Ha! Today, she said that something was "as black as a the inside of a cow." Of course their accents are distinct. "Owoot" is the pronunciation of "out," for example.

These are useful: anybody who gave us trouble was called "buddy." "Buddy didn't have our hotel reservation.." and the like. Eva and Annette also referred to each other as "Mrs." constantly. As in: "How you doin' there Mrs.?" "Okay, Mrs., how are you?"

I have been teaching them a few Yiddish expressions, but they somehow don't have the same resonance in this crowd. ("Mishegas" and "shpilkes" were two they liked.) We were joking that a Jewish Newfoundlander would probably be saying: "She must have had shpilkes; her mouth was going like a whipporwill's arsehole!" We laughed at that one.

Our bus driver, Armin, who is German, had a unique way of telling a joke -- they go on for four days! He would start and after about ten minutes, we would all go about reading or doing other things waiting for the punch line. Usually, I had to pay close attention, so I could translate for the others into a more concise version. It took me about a minute to tell the same joke. But Armin is a pleasant, jovial fellow with a quick (sometimes!) wit and a calm demeanor. He's an excellent driver and we always got where we were going on time, and often, early. His van has 2 GPS systems - one a male voice and one a female voice. At times they sounded like they were arguing with each other.

Dutch Treat

Armin, our driver, picked me up at 9 a.m. It was my last moment at Jim's in Heidelberg. It felt like a second home - so comfortable, a great place to take breaks from our travels around Europe. I had spent the day before (when I came back from Wiesbaden) reorganizing and getting caught up on work stuff. Now we were off on the last leg of our adventure. We will come back to Heidelberg only the very last evening to discuss the nominations and awards -- the night before we go home.

We were heading for Brunssum in The Netherlands (not Holland - it was explained to me that Holland is only a province of The Netherlands, but because it's the most famous province, which provides tulips...and wooden shoes, everyone calls the whole country Holland. Wrong!) Brunssum is right on the border of Germany and The Netherlands, with parts of the base in both countries. This only adds to the confusion. Luckily, we have finally been blessed with good weather, no, not just good weather, spectacular! It's mid-60s and sunny this day, as we drive north (a five hour or so drive.)

The surprise was our accommodation. It's called Overste Hof, and though it wasn't easy to find, it was worth the search. This place, unlike every other place we've stayed, is far off base. It's in the countryside; they have horses! and goats! and sheep! It's next to a place called Snow Mountain - a huge indoor skiing and sledding resort-type place. The Overste Hof must have been a former stable; the buildings are built in a big square with a courtyard in the center. The rooms are small, quaint, but modern, clean and comfortable (especially the bed.) Since it was such a beautiful day, we just wanted to sit in the courtyard in the sun and soak it in.

I wanted to see the town and do some errands, so Armin and I took an excursion, leaving Eva and Annette to enjoy the hotel's amenities. Unlike most places we visited, this place is modern -- everything built after the war. Not because it was all destroyed, though some major battles were fought near here, but because this had been mostly brown coal mines, which eventually ran out of coal. Nature reserves, lakes, ponds, forests and new towns have taken their place. So the architecture is nothing special. It was like being in a small suburban town -- it was just Dutch. The shops, the bakeries, everything was in Dutch and they did NOT want to be confused with the Germans, though most people speak both languages.

The Brunssum theatre group gave us each baskets filled with (mostly) edible gifts. Very nice. We were taken to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. No menu here. The owner just came by and asked us what we wanted: duck? fish? chicken? beef? pork? (no!), rice? We didn't know what to expect, but were pleasantly surprised by the variety and quality of every dish.

After dinner, it was on to the theatre to see their production of The Foreigner by Larry Shue. The play tells the story of a shy man who comes to a guest house to get away from his boring life and in an effort not to have conversations with anyone pretends to be a foreigner who can't understand English. As a result, everyone tells him their secrets and he discovers his personality in the process (while overcoming the KKK, by the way.) It's a very funny script which was a hit in New York about 25 years ago.

The next morning, we set off for Kaiserslautern. Back south again, another 4 hour trip. But we broke it up by stopping in Trier for lunch. What a surprise that was! I have been nearby before, but never went to the center of the town. Trier is the oldest town in Germany; the main church, the Dom, dates from the 600's. The one City gate, that still exists, the Porta Nigra, "black gate" as it is called is the symbol of the City; it's an ancient Roman structure that calls to mind The Colleseum in Rome, with its rows of arches. Here's a photo.

The center Center of town is the Hauptmarkt, where everyone gathers in outdoor cafes and restaurants. There is a flower market with spectacular tulips, as you would expect, and also gorgeous gerber daisies, roses and orchids. From here, where we had some soup at one of the lovely outdoor spots, it was short walk to the Dom. Another church, I thought, what could this one be like that is different from the others. Well, aside from its age -- it's the oldest standing church outside of Rome -- it's the artwork inside that makes it special. Unlike Italian churches, frescoes are not present; what they have are intricate, sculpted friezes that are remarkable in their detail and vibrancy. There's one on the apse as you enter, all in white, that is beautiful and evocative. Here's a picture of that.

Further down the street is the house where Karl Marx was born. Nice house; no hint of who would emerge from it.

Trier has an added interest for me, since my high school was called New Trier (West), and we never really knew anything about Trier when we were growing up. So I now have photos to show my former classmates the real Trier. We had to indulge in ice cream and it was among the best we've had in Europe this trip. I couldn't get myself to leave the sunny streets to do any shopping or anything (after leaving the church.) A picture perfect day!

But we had to leave eventually to get to Kaiserslautern in time for our dinner and show. The dinner was at a local German pub/restaurant. The food in this area is slightly different; we are in Franconia now, not Bavaria. They have a specialty that looks like a very thin pizza, which my colleagues liked a lot. I opted for spaetzle and steak. Not a great choice, as it turned out. I was also disappointed in the apple streudel, which I had high hopes for.

The play we saw here was The Night of January 16th by Ayn Rand. It was written in the 30s. It's a courtroom drama about the murder of millionaire (Madoff-like) swindler. The gimmick is that audience members are selected to be members of the jury and they ultimately decide whether the defendant (his mistress) is guilty or not. Different endings are written depending upon what result comes from the jury.

Today we are off to Grafenvoehr again.

Ladies and Ghents!

I'm back in Heidelberg after my Belgian adventure. What beautiful weather we had in Belgium! Dan picked me up on Monday morning and we caught the train for Brussels. I had been here once before, the weekend of Dan's big birthday party a couple of years ago. He had recently purchased a house in the countryside near Mons, the closest town of any size and SHAPE, the NATO command center where he runs the Entertainment Program. It was only half an hour by train to Brussels.

We visited some key sites before settling on a place to have lunch. (Why is a key symbol of Brussels a sculpture of a boy peeing?????) Our main objective was to eat outside, in the sun. We found a few places in St. Catherine's Platz. We settled on an Italian, since it had a mid-range menu and was perfectly situated for direct exposure to the rays. We weren't disappointed. This place was very good. We started with a mixed antipasto of all vegetarian samples, all freshly prepared and delicious. I followed with a beef dish, a roast in a red wine sauce that was incredible. Dan had Tagliatelle (the fettucine-like flat noodles) with mushrooms. We indulged in a full carafe of red wine. Very decadent of us! We finished with a tiramasu served in a coffee cream. Let's just say that lunch went on for quite a while. Sitting in the sun, drinking good wine, eating delicious food and sharing stories with a good friend -- that is just what I needed at this point. During coffee, Dan's friend Sean -- an Irish guy living in Brussels, joined us. Very nice.

Soon after lunch, we were back on the train headed for Gent (or Ghent). It depends upon whether you are French-Belgian or Flemish-Belgian. Everything in Gent is translated into both languages. Believe me, the two cultures don't mix easily - and they are not so kind when they talk about each other. ("The Flemish are more organized and precise. The Flemish aren't lazy like the other Belgians..." -- I heard stuff like that a lot.) At least they aren't fighting each other about the differences. They live together peacefully enough, notwithstanding the catty remarks.

We walked from the train station to one of the schools where Dan's partner, Daniel works. He is principal of four different schools! It's a lot of work. But he was full of energy this day, in spite of problems he was having with his superiors. He took us on a full tour of Gent. It's actually the 3rd largest city in Belgium after Brussels and Antwerp. It also has its share of historic sites -- of which I think I saw almost all. The tour was thorough. He has an incredible memory, so he recalls all of the history. I couldn't quite take it all in, but I got most of the stories. I liked the one about the daughter who saved her father's life by feeding him milk from her breast. He was a Roman sentenced to death by starvation and they couldn't understand why he stayed alive so long. There's a sculpture of it on the prison that dates from 1741 (photo above.)

I was determined to have two things while in Belgium: Belgian waffles and Moules Frites (that's mussels with fries). Only fifty percent accomplished. The waffles you could find at stands on the streets; that's the best place to get them; they are crispy, warm and sweet. Try as we might, however, not a "moule" to be found anywhere in Gent that evening. Half of the restaurants were closed because it was a Monday and the rest were not serving mussels. So, we settled for a French place in the oldest part of town. Evidently, much of the town was under water when the settlers filled in pockets of land and built on them. That's why there are canals that run through the town -- not exactly like Venice, but you get the idea.

After dinner, Dan and I took a train back to Jerbais, and drove to Dan's house in the country. His backyard is literally someone's farm. He took great care to fix the place up; my room was most comfortable. It was cool, crisp, clear night -- the crescent moon shone through my window. Sleeping weather. And I did.

Next morning, Dan drove me to Mons where I caught my train for Wiesbaden, where I would do my third and final workshop. Actually, I should say trains - I had to change twice. I must say that the German rail system is on time, very clean and reliable. As you might expect!

In Wiesbaden, Charlie Fontana, who we had seen just a few days ago, when we came here to see the production of Fools, picked me up and took me to the American Arms Hotel. I spent the afternoon walking outside in the (blessed!) sun and getting a massage at a nearby spa. He came back a couple of hours later take me to the theater where we had seen Fools, the Amelia Earhart Playhouse. This time, it looked different. Since the show had closed, the whole "southern environment" he had created in the lobby was history. We used this space for the workshop. This time, instead of Improv, I was doing a workshop with the unlikely title of "Channeling Theatre for a Fulfilling Life". I'm not even sure what I meant by that!

Surprisingly, 24 people showed up. I began with some warm-up, group concentration exercises and then moved into a discussion of values, missions and goals. We did a guided imagery exercise and almost everyone contributed along the way. It was diverse group in terms of age, ethnicity and experience, but they all seemed so "into it" that it was a pleasure to facilitate. Some folks were actors or wanted to be; others had simple jobs on the Army base and others were retired. I discovered that the exercises I used were useful on many levels. The response afterward was extremely positive. I had several people asking me when I would return. (Hmmm....)

Afterward, Charlie took me out for dinner at a Greek place. Nothing extraordinary, but fine. It was interesting to talk with him about his experience running an Army theater. I was up early to head back to Heidelberg for my one last day off. Armin came to pick me up in a van, so I didn't even have to take a train. He's a charming German guy, who has been driving these vans contracted by the Army for years. Quick with a quip, he made me laugh as we fought the rush-hour traffic out of Wiesbaden.