Filed under: Diary of the camp 2008
And it was morning, early morning. Ad tertiam horam! The dark black sky mingles with the first speckles of daytime grey. After energizing massages the day commences and Gloria looms. Frantic finalizations, last minute changes, even inspiring new creations. Filled with Wheeler’s wholesome midday treat we embark on a journey through the triste forest towards civilization, towards the focus of our day, of our last week, towards Gloria, towards the culmination of all our workshop efforts into one final presentation. Gloria. This name has been mentioned oh so often in the bygone days. How will it be? We find a place with flare, a place with style. Is it a theatre, is it a concert hall? Are we in an American diner? Or is this a raw martial feeling emitted from every corner? Whatever this place is, whatever thoughts it provokes, for this evening we will stamp our own special mark on it. As we swarm into the building there is the din of the sound check, art works scaling the sides and a whole new, surrealist country emerging to cover the back wall. Eyes twinkle and smiles rush over the lips of these young people as the feeling covers them that the work of the past week has taken shape and is starting to pay off.
Bit by bit everything comes together and the time is rife for a little sustinance. First impressions are, as so much of our life, wrong and this cafeteria-cum-restaurant surprises. The garlicky salmon convinces even the most adamant of fish haters and the beef in pepper sauce could hardly have been better. To top this all off, a young man finds that piece of himself he knew was missing, he manages to discover it on this dark Helsinki evening: he tries the HP Sauce and all else falls to utter insignificance. These delicious dishes way heavy in the stomach accompanied by the crispy fried potatoes but duty is calling and so to Gloria we shall return.
Quickly, quickly passes the time. Soon we are all seated firm in our seats prepared for this most special soirée, accepting that hardly any outsiders have braved the darkness to join us. 118 minutes later the spotlights fade for the last time. From a crawling start of country presentations, it can only get better. And it does. How diverse these different acts were; the world of cinematography shows its facettes in two very different but equally well produced short films, an amazing animation and an interesting and so special documentary on this beautiful country’s nature accompanied by a strangely contrasting musical selection. The oral participation of singers, rappers and beat boxers is super, but nothing can top the synthesis of visual and aural experience performed by the theatre-workshop.
Before the show continues with two very talented bands and a lot of dancing (unfortunately the Finnish youth, who have come to see their bands, decide not to let us enjoy their dancing capabilities and seem not to be amused by ours), a spontaneous backstage party emerges, and right in the middle of this, a Mahypphrian midget teaching the authors of this text a game of Salmoniak and standing in line. Back at the ranch it is “hancake” time, and then all the joys of this European youth exchange enfold.
Tim and Paul (Germany)
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