Events – 2009
Flying High
A play devised and performed by the Bethesda Arts Centre
The story: A family lives in a valley surrounded by cliffs and mountains so high and steep, no-one has ever left it. The children wonder what is on the other side, and the mother, aunt and grandfather warn them of the dangers of such wonderings. In the other world, they caution, beyond their valley, people have no heads, and can’t even see their own children. Another account of the world beyond the valley is that all the people are dead people and walk around with only bones. A third rumour is that there is nothing but water and fish, and no people could survive there.
With shadow puppets the elders show the children the horrors of the world beyond. There is even a legend that someone in distant memory left the valley long ago, but he never came back, and it is generally believed he was eaten by giants.
The children are still curious, and when their parents retire, they decide to climb out of the valley. They climb the dangerous cliffs, and just as they reach the threshold of the new world, two terrible giants come and frighten them so much that they tumble down again into the valley.
What to do? The family, bruised and shaken, prays for guidance, and soon notice a bird flying towards them. As it gets closer it gets bigger and bigger, and when it reaches them, it tells them to put aside their fears. It will teach them to fly, so that they can safely leave their valley and explore the greater world.
The cliffs of ignorance and prejudice that surround people, walling them in, and the fear of change represented by giants beyond the limits of the known world, are archetypes easily recognised by people in any society. In Nieu Bethesda, where racism, poverty, and social problems dominate with frightening intensity, they are archetypes with particular poignancy. The Big Bird of knowledge which enables people to transcend their limited world is the transformation the Arts Centre strives towards in all its work.
New Year’s Eve 2008 at the Bethesda Arts Centre
This year, the Bethesda Arts Centre’s Festival of Lights was bigger and better than ever before. It was a perfect night for the event, without a breath of wind, and the moon a small gold crescent in the black velvet of Bethesda’s night sky.
The evening began with music. La Petit, a terrific three-man band from Graaff Reinet, played as people arrived, and took their seats in the Arts Centre’s open air theatre. The children were served with rooster brood and boerewors, to keep them going till the braai later in the evening. Then there was a performance of a play, Flying High, devised and performed by the members of the Centre. Giant puppets, songs, and spontaneous dialogue had the audience in fits of laughter.
Then there was the moment everyone had been waiting for. A hundred and fifty lanterns were lighted, and the procession began to wind slowly away from the Centre, around the township and along the dusty lanes of the village. In front of the procession three giant puppets danced along, followed by the twenty-two members of the Bethesda Arts Centre, singing, dancing, and playing drums. Then came fifty township children, lanterns held high, walking with pride and delight in lines of four. Behind them came members of the local coloured community and visitors (about 70) who had travelled from Knysna, George, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown, Graaff Reinet, and Oudtshoorn to take part in the event. In all, about two hundred people walked in the procession. Towards the front of the procession the excitement was high, with singing and dancing filling the night. Towards the back of the long parade, as the line of pale moving lights ahead seemed to float in the air as it snaked its way across the valley, the atmosphere was magical and profoundly peaceful.
The Centre’s sponsored soccer team, Arts Centre United, acted as disaster management. As always, a few lanterns caught fire and were instantly dealt with. Those that went out were re-lit by the team, and the procession arrived back at the Centre with all its lanterns alight. A record. Lantern cars, helicopters, hearts, flowers, butterflies, and birds, all returned shining brightly. The police were helpful, politely asking people not to park or drive in the way of the parade.
After the lantern parade, everyone returned to the centre for a delicious braai, and dancing till midnight to the music of La Petit. In the warm night air, on the cobblestones of the round courtyard, a canopy of stars both extended and contained the general feeling of joy and celebration. As many of the guests remarked, “This night was one to remember”.
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