One should never think that things would be easy!
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When we arrived in Okinawa the set came by cargo from
Norway, and Iva that produces the tour had arranged that it should arrive in
the same time as us. With her experience of producing our tours in 34 countries
over the last eleven years she lives by the rule “You can never be sure enough
that things are going to happen the way they are planned”. After we had got the
confirmation that the set had arrived to Japan some nice people with badges told
us that we should rather go to the hotel after 20 hours of travel than to wait
another hour to get our boxes thru customs. It was said that it would be picked
up and brought to the venue. So we went to our hotel. But the boxes did not
follow….
When we came to the venue the day after to set up, the boxes had vanished, and no one seemed to know where they had gone. Maybe it was the Americans, or the Russians, or maybe even the Chinese. Who knows? But the set was gone. After some hectic work on the phone it was found in the air base 70 kilometres away at one o`clock in the morning. Our Japanese stage manager Issawa said he would go and get it, and Iva with: “You can never be sure enough that things are going to happen the way they are planned” in mind, decided to go with him at seven o`clock in the morning – with her half year old baby!! (Again with: “You can never be sure enough that things are going to happen the way they are planned” she brought the baby to be sure that it would have enough milk during the morning…)
When we came to the venue the day after to set up, the boxes had vanished, and no one seemed to know where they had gone. Maybe it was the Americans, or the Russians, or maybe even the Chinese. Who knows? But the set was gone. After some hectic work on the phone it was found in the air base 70 kilometres away at one o`clock in the morning. Our Japanese stage manager Issawa said he would go and get it, and Iva with: “You can never be sure enough that things are going to happen the way they are planned” in mind, decided to go with him at seven o`clock in the morning – with her half year old baby!! (Again with: “You can never be sure enough that things are going to happen the way they are planned” she brought the baby to be sure that it would have enough milk during the morning…)
Oops not so easy to get in here....
I will try to bribe them with a smile.
In the end a man with a nice uniform, helmet and a mask gave us our set.
They arrived back just in time for rehearsals in a
blue van very similar to one of our touring vans. When the rest of us stood
there to pick up the set pretty jet-lagged, with a coffee in our hand, one of
the actors asked ” Did she really go back to Norway get the company van to
bring the set here ...”
Getting in was easy after the bits and pieces arrived.
Elke had already focused the lights, and we were ready to go in a very short
time.
The opening and the reprise of My Long Journey Home went
very well, and we had more people than we had seats and floor. For those that
did not get a ticket and had to stand outside we can only say that we are very sorry,
and we hope that we might present the work here again. Or you are more than
welcome to follow us in another country.
KM
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