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| Cairo Opera House |
It was one of the most amazing experiences in my life !!! From the moment the curtains opened until they were drawn, I couldn't stop laughing!! :D
I know it's a sad Opera.. but I wasn't laughing at the Opera or the performances... I was laughing at some of the audience!!
That night, instead of enjoying the act (as I really intended to) , I kept looking at the people's faces, watching how they reacted to each line... pretty much like when Hamlet closely watched the face of Claudius during the play. And what I saw really made my day :D
A man kept waving his hands with the music, closing his eyes, smiling and enjoying every single note... and, needless to say, annoying all those around him. But I wasn't annoyed, in fact I was happy for him! He pictured himself a painter waving with his brush and painting his dreams... I tried to respect that picture... but, I couldn't help noticing how he looked like a traffic officer standing in an intersection.
A woman was sitting there looking at her mirror, fixing her hair and putting lipstick... either she was so influenced by the act that she thought of imitating the Pagliacci... or she just came all the way to the Opera to meet someone, who was obviously late and would certainly not be allowed to enter before the intermission! :D
A man kept looking at the screen showing the translation. I swear to God, he never turned his eyes to the stage for a single moment. He came all the way to see the translation which is a thing he could have done at home ! :D
Then came my best part of the Opera.... the tenor aria "Vesti la Giubba" (Put on the Costume)!! Which is the reason why I came here in the first place!
It is an emotionally storming masterpiece... The clown, who was preparing himself for his stage performance, discovers that his wife, who is also performing with him on stage, was cheating on him.
And, through his tears, he puts on his clown's costume and prepares to make people laugh.. because the show must go on.
Impressed as I was by the performance and the music, I couldn't help noticing a man crying himself out and shouting "Why?" in tears! Looks like he had a similar experience and the clown just reminded him of it. Well, he knew what the story was about, so I guess he came all the way to cry out loud and get it all off his chest.... and spread it all around! :D
An incredibly annoying man was sitting two rows behind me... shouting "Bravo" and "Brava" all the time... when there was a need to and specially when there wasn't. I guess he was just trying to tell us that he knew the difference between " Bravo" (used to express appreciation to a male performer) and "Brava" (to a female performer). I was almost sure that he would wait till the end of the show to freak us out us with a huge "Bravi"!! :D
His voice was only surpassed by the chewing noise of the woman sitting next to me me. Who kept eating as if it were her one and only mission on Earth! I figured she would leave after she finished all the food in her bag and not necessarily wait for the end of the show..... I was right! :D
I finally woke up from my meditations to the voice of the Pagliaccio announcing "La Commedia è finita! " (The play is over)... after he actually stabs his wife and her lover!!
I felt like "WHAT? Please don't tell me it's over!! Play it again!!". I was in tears!! I spent the whole night laughing at those who came to the show to do something else other than enjoying it. And I forgot I wasn't, by any means, different.
As I walked myself out of the theater, I passed by the man who was waving his hands, the woman who was looking at the mirror was still alone, the translation guy was putting his glasses in his pocket, the crying man was wiping his tears... and the "Bravo, Brava" man looking so happy! I envied him for enjoying every single moment of the act, unlike me. But then, just as I was passing near him, he yelled the word the would make him feel much better...... "Bravi" !!
I looked furiously at him and said those three words that would make me feel even better..... "You Shut up!"
Samar Ahmad Elsaadany
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