Lagos Day 8: wrapping things up

Sunday morning was lazy.  I stayed at the hotel, getting some work done, planning for the trip home.  I started to pack my bags, shoving dirty clothes in one bag, wrapping one Malaria pill in paper so I’d have it on the flight home, etc.  

The sidewalks in our neighborhood are missing a piece of concrete every 10 feet, so you have to jump or land in dirty muck.

Shortly after noon, Bryan and I headed into town.  We grabbed our bags and computers and hopped in a cab for Jazz Hole, a famous book and record shop.  The place was jammed with all sorts of periodicals, journals, new and used music and literature.  There were lots of titles that I could get in the states, but thousands of Nigerian records in stacks on the floor.  I bought a few things from the in-house label, and then we headed to the theatre.

The last performance of Eve’s Rapture was the strongest.  We had twice as many audience members as before, and the whole audience was engaged with the story.  After the show, I had a few different conversations with local artists, including one film-maker who wants to turn this production into a movie.  The entire company took dozens of photos of each other and we all celebrated the end, for now, of our partnership!  Hopefully we can do this again sometime.

Before the show, lead drummer (and brother of the director) Alfred taught me about how to play the sakara drum. 

The house is open!

Some of the incredible performers!

Nathaniel was our lead technician and chief make-it-happener.

From the venue, Bryan, Kate, and I hopped in a car and headed to the New African Shrine to hear Femi Kuti perform. Segun and his brother Alfred met us there. Femi is one of Fela’s sons and has a weekly stint at the shrine. The experience was glorious.  The music was loud, the band was tight the dancers were fantastic, and the whole experience was unforgettable.  We sat on the steps by the dance floor and had great view.  Bryan and the others danced; I just watched the musicians make their magic.

Bryan, Segun, and I at the Shrine

When Femi ended his concert, we bid a sad farewell to Kate and Alfred, confirmed our meeting time the next morning with Segun, and hopped in a cab to head to the hotel. The cab driver asked if we had been doing any illegal drugs since we were headed towards a military checkpoint (he said that he could turn around and go another way if we had); we had only had beer, so we weren’t concerned.  

The soldiers at the checkpoint stopped our car, talked to our driver, and asked us to get out of the car.  The asked where we were and we told them we were at the Shrine.  They asked if we had done any drugs, and we told them that we had just had a beer.  Then they searched us; it was a thorough search, through pockets and shoes and socks; of course they didn’t find anything.  They they asked to search our bags, and when they did, they found the one malaria pill that I had pre-packed for Monday’s trip home.  Because it was wrapped in paper and not in the prescription bottle, they immediately got suspicious.  They accused me of having drugs; they got more suspicious when I couldn’t remember the name of the medicine. Fortunately, Bryan remembered the name of the medicine, and the soldier was able to google ‘malarone tablet’ and confirm that what I had was medicine; they let us go.  We shook hands with them, thanking them for doing their job.  

When we got back to the hotel, I took a quick shower and hopped into bed.  Have a relatively early morning the next day to fly home!

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On Monday morning, I woke at 4.30am, after only around 4 hours of sleep, and couldn’t zonk out again.  So, I got up, finished my packing, and tried to rest.  Segun met us at the hotel at 6:30, and we all headed to the airport.  

Checking in at the Lagos airport was an exercise in patience and chaos.  We went through lots of security.  Our bags were scanned as we entered the airport, then our passports were checked when we checked in for our flight. We had two different people check our passports at passport control, and then we had to show our exit card. From there, we went through another security checkpoint (carryon scan, metal detector, pat-down).  Then a customs agent randomly quizzed people on how much valuables they were carrying. Finally, after we passed through the international terminal and were at our gate, we went through one last passport check and a very thorough hand luggage check and pat-down.  Once all that was done, we were allowed to wait in the gate area.  The gate area had seats only for about 60% of the passengers, was enclosed, and did not have AC.  So by the time we all got on the plane, we were damp and tired. The plane, though, had the AC pumping; we could see the vapors create fog as the cold air hit the humid Nigerian air.

One last ussie before we headed into passport control.

At the crowded humid gate.

We landed safely in Atlanta, made our way quickly through Global Entry, and immediately got tagged for a random customs bag search.  The agent was friendly enough, and the bag search was fast.  We got to our LA gate with a few minutes to spare before boarding, and then home to LAX (landed 30 minutes early!) and to our houses on time.

When I got home (around 9:40pm), Sarah was up and waiting with a big hug!  We chatted for a big while I ate a salad (fresh raw veg!) and then we turned off the light by around 11.  Home.

Lagos Day 7: Freedom Park and a literary salon

This morning I woke up at 6 and couldn't really get back to sleep.  So, I got some work done before meeting Kate to head into town.  We headed back to Freedom Park, where she toured me around.  The park had been a prison during British Colonial Rule, and parts of the prison still stand.  The walls of the prison surround the park, and the prison kitchen is now where vendors sell their food.  The layout of the first cellblock has been preserved, but it has been turned into a bunch of market vendor stalls.

Scattered throughout the grounds are life-sized statues representing the many tribes that make up Nigeria, each doing something meaningful related to their culture.

There were also busts of notable Nigerians.  Here's Fela:

Kate and I took a yellow motorized trike cab from Freedom Park to the theatre.  Along the way, we got stuck in traffic, and our driver didn't notice that the manhole in front of him lost its cover.  The front tire went straight in and we tipped up like a capsized ship.  I banged my knee a little bit, and all the passengers got out while a few local people helped haul the front tire out of the manhole. Then we piled back in the cab and were on our way!

The second show went well.  Another small house, but they were appreciative!

After the show, Bryan, Kate, and I headed back to Ikeja to a restaurant called The Mint, where one of Kate's friends was hosting a sort of literary salon about sensuality.  Kate read a few poems, another person played some songs, another improvised a dance, another had us all massage our own hands and wrists.  It was a pretty fun evening full of conversation and new faces.

Our guide/host/fixer Kate reading poetry.

After that, we walked back to the hotel and I facetimed D/R/P before heading to bed.  

Closing is tomorrow!

Lagos Day 6: opening!

I was pooped last night, so I didn't blog.  Here it is.  After having a calm morning in the hotel taking care of UCI work, I hopped in a car to ride down to the theatre to meet for some tech notes.  The plan had been to meet at 1 to take care of a few notes, but for lots of different reasons, I was the only one from the company there at 1.  The rest of the company didn't arrive until closer to 3.  Bryan's speech got delayed, so he didn't arrive until closer to 4.  So, we didn't get to do all of the notes we had intended.  We took care of the video notes and then ran the show.

The show ran well.  House was small, but the audience dug it.  We had lots of good conversations after.  I was really drained (the heat and humidity is taking it out of me).  After the show, we headed back to Ikeja for dinner. I almost fell asleep in my food, but managed to make it back to the hotel to get into bed.  

Here are some photos from my drive to Ikeja to the venue.

 

Lagos Day 5: Kind of a tech

 This morning I woke up to a pounding rainstorm.  The hotel was leaking in a few places as I went down to breakfast.  After working for a few hours in my room to wait for the rain to pass, Kate came to meet us at the hotel and we all went to the theatre.  The hotel lobby is decorating for Christmas!

The venue is Glover Memorial Hall, on Lagos Island far SE of where we've been staying in Ikeja.  As we got off the highway, a man started running alongside the car, asking us for money. Lagos Island is one of the ritzier sections of Lagos, but the industrialness of the city and the poverty of so many of its citizens are apparent even here.  

Glover Memorial Hall is sort of diamond-shaped, with a balcony, a stage that sits 5' off the floor, and an orchestra that is all portable stacking chairs.  

We arrived at noon expecting to set up the projector, handle sound, and get right into tech. Unfortunately, the venue staff got started late and was not ready for us at noon. So, we did what we could, but didn't get started working until 5.30 or so.  The booth has big fan and an exterior door for ventilation, but they were both loud, so I kept the fan off and the door shut during tech (perpetually damp).

Once, halfway through the work-through, the theatre quickly powered down the venue to switch from generator power to municipal power.  The company continued on like it was nbd, since it was nbd - the power goes off for a few seconds at a time all the time in Lagos!  But then, at 7pm, the power shut off and stayed off.  Apparently, the venue staff were upset that we were still working way after our 4pm cut-off. I get that, but also, they came in late and cost us productivity time during our scheduled time.  So, everyone in the theatre who wasn't on-stage turned their iphone flashlights on, and the company continued their work-through in the flashlit room.

After we finished the work-through, Kate, Bryan, and I headed to Freedom Park for dinner. The park is a monument to Nigerian culture that is built on the grounds of a colonial prison.  The food was good; we took a cab ride home to get some rest!

Lagos Day 1-3: arrival, Fela, rehearsal!

On Sunday morning, I started a weeklong trip to Lagos Nigeria to work on the sound design for an adaptation of UCI colleague Bryan Reynold's play 'Eve's Rapture.'  The trip started with a 6am flight from LAX to Atlanta, followed by an overnight direct flight from Atlanta into Lagos.  We arrived Monday morning in Lagos to a sticky cloudy day.  The airport was chaotic and felt half-finished, but our host hired a guide to help us navigate immigration.  We got through the airport without to much trouble and were on our way.

Our hotel is in Ikeja, a relatively pricy area of Lagos.  There are gated houses all around, range rovers and jaguars driving driving down the street.  We wandered into an organic grocery store, and the manager took a shine to us and walked us across the street to a high-end department store/art gallery.  This being a tony part of a tony part of town makes some of the other bits more pronounced and meaningful.  Most sidewalks are just concrete slabs laid over sewage, and every ten feet or so a slab is missing, so you either have to jump over the gap or step into the street.  There is still visible poverty, and guards at the doors to shops and hotels are a reminder that while rich, this place isn't completely safe.

After a siesta and a walkabout, Kate came to the hotel to join us.  She's a local actor, not in the show, who seems to have been voluntold to be our companion for our trip.  Lagos isn't really set up with a tourist infrastructure, so it's great to have someone around who knows how the city works.  We first headed to the Kalakuta Museum, the former home of Afropop founder and Nigerian musical pioneer Fela Kuti.  His house has been turned into a museum, and his grave is in the front area.

From there, to a traditional Nigerian dinner at Ile Iyan, where had a delicious meal of pepper soup, chicken, goat, snails, fish, and plantains!  

We were in bed by 9.

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On Tuesday morning (Day 3), I woke at 4.30 (jetlag) and got some work done before breakfast.  At 7.30, we hopped in a car with Kate and a friend of hers for the 90 minute drive northeast for rehearsal.  Along the way, we could see that Lagos was already up and hopping, even at that early time!

As we left the city proper, the roads got crappier, and even the potholes had potholes!

After a little more than an hour on the road, we turned off the pavement for the final 25 minutes of driving along a very rutted-out dirt road.  The dirt was red and dusty, but the activity on the side of the road didn't stop.  Vendors, clothiers, schoolkids, motorbikes, etc, were all jockeying for position on the road.

We finally pulled up to a big wall with a metal gate in and honked the horn.  Someone came to open the door and we drove into the parking area/rehearsal space for the Crown Troupe of Africa, our hosts for this trip and the company putting up 'Eve's Rapture.' The space a big open dirt area, in full sun.  Along one wall was a laundry rack and a little coop for a fresh batch of puppies.  At one end was a big house with running water but (as far as I could tell) no electricity (maybe they had it but didn't use it since it was not and no one wanted lights on).  The cast was waiting for us, and as soon as we got settled, they started the rehearsal. 

The rehearsal was glorious.  Segun, the artistic director, translated the text into Pidgin (a thick local dialect that sounds like English if you squint), expanded the cast from 4 to 17, and turned the whole thing into opera complete with an orchestra.  It was stunning. And hot.

After rehearsal I got to spend time with with Segun and the other artists, eating lunch and talking about music and theatre.  

The ride back to Lagos was uneventful, and Bryan and each took a siesta after we returned. For dinner, we me back up with Kate and her friend for dinner at a local restaurant called Tilapia.  No one ordered the fish.

Days 7 & 8: Brno & Vienna

Yesterday morning half of the company woke with headaches.  Between the grey and the exhaustion, we were spent.  We had planned on a full day of seeing Brno, but we ended up chilling out longer in the apartment.  I was a little nauseous, but after a few hours, it dissipated.

L and I went looking for breakfast and wound up at an asian noodle shop.  Afterwards, we wandered Brno.

Many of these old Czech towns have astronomical clocks.  Brno's is very modern, and while it's definitely functional as a clock, it also looks like it might be functional for some other things too.  In fact, while we were looking at it, a woman came up to us and wanted to know what we thought of Brno's big black cock.

There is a 500-year old vegetable market that is open just outside our apartment. The produce there is beautiful, and we took a tour through the labyrinth of cellars deep underground where the merchants historically stored their wares.

Flowers at the market.

Artifacts from the labyrinth.

Winemaking artifacts.

Torture helmets.

More market goodness.

F cancer.

The town is beautiful, with all sorts of eras of art & architecture bumping up against one another.

How many architectural styles are in this photo?

After our walkabout, we returned for a brief siesta. I facetimed with S&H, and then we headed to the theatre for our last performance of this tour.  This one was our strongest.  Everything came together, and we had a great run and talkback!

After the performance and quick strike, the company went out to an Italian dinner to celebrate the end of the tour!

On Saturday morning, I went out early to pick up breakfast for the folks.  Then, E and I took a short train from Brno to Vienna

In Vienna, we said goodbye to each other and headed our separate ways.  I checked in at the hotel and then headed over to the offices of Amadeus Audio, an immersive audio firm that I've been wanting to learn more about.  Fabio, one of their leaders, spent the afternoon with me, demoing their system and showing me some stuff they've been working on.

Then, back to the flat for a short siesta before wandering town.

Roman ruins in the foreground!

This church is sooooo biiiig!

Love is love.

I visited a bunch of Atlas Obscura sights just to find reasons to move around the area.  The main drag is full of the typical high-end stuff - Prada, Coach, Tiffany, but the side streets are full of cool discoveries!  I found two iron bars that were used centuries ago to measure cloth, a 400-year old tree studded with nails, and a baroque monument to the plague.  

Tired now.  Bed soon. More exploring tomorrow!