Four Irish based performers and 173kg of circus and musical equipment  (imagine the excess baggage fee) have set off on tour with their show through war torn Somalia. Professional fools; Will Flanagan, Colm O’Grady, Bryan Quinn and Arran Towers have taken it upon themselves to ‘play’ in a country that has never seen the likes of it  before.  In fact no international performance group has toured here for at least 20 years, and no group has ever performed in the displaced people/refugee camps. 

     The show, called ‘Good News’ is themed around the use of newspapers as props. The performers dress in a newspaper decorated costume, perform highly inventive routines using deft circus skills, newspaper puppetry and comedy all performed to a live music soundtrack.

     The entire tour has been has been graciously organized in collaboration with Roberta Russo and the UNHCR (the UN High Commission for Refugees) teams in Somalia and Nairobi, and has been kindly funded by Culture Ireland, the UNHCR and by donations and fundraisers from the public.

     The ‘great’ news is that the show really works!  The kids of Somalia are really loving it.

     It is common at the beginning of the show for the audience to be a little timid since they often have no idea what is going to happen.  However, from the moment the group introduce themselves and ‘Pow!’ Arran gets knocked over while balancing three huge bags on his head, the laughter kicks off and everyone relaxes into the show.  From there the clowns are rolling around & tumbling in the dust throwing the inflated bags at each other in a highly energetic slapstick routine.

     After one particular show a woman asked ?ho are these crazy white people and who will wash them?

     Bryan keeps the proceedings upbeat with his musical accompaniment, as the trio of players go from one high paced routine to the next in 30-35?C heat, blinded by sun cream and sweat  streaming into their eyes. This must seem like a strange complaint when one is sitting reading this  in -3?C in Kilmuckridge!

     The kids sing along with the call and response songs. Whoop, clap and cheer at Will`s Egg Juggling number and the three person Club Juggling routine (our `Clubs` are simply made from rolled up newspapers). They fall around laughing whenever an audience member is brought onstage, especially when their friends and carers become the stars of the show.  One of the highlights of the show is a very special ‘Origami’ routine that Arran performs using the help of a young boy. Another favorite is the Chicken puppet which has become a big hit with the children, and mothers too. Somalian chicks don`t `cluck` they go `coo-coo` by the way!

     Somalia itself has been in conflict for nearly 20 years and many of the people from the south of the country have abandoned their homes and have settled in IDP (Internally Displaced Peoples) camps around different parts of the country for their safety. Currently there are over 1.5 million IDPs in Somalia alone.

     As a group coming here for the first time, we have found the people to be very friendly and ready at any moment to play with us. In our first week here we walked through an IDP settlement in Hargeisa, next to one of the locations we played our show, and so many of the children recognized us and mimicked parts of the show back to us. We were guided through the tented camp by community leaders and they allowed us to enter a family home. The shelter was a surprisingly sturdy makeshift construction made up of rough timber, flattened tin, cardboard, rag material (including a pair of jeans) and waste plastic. Inside was very dark and extremely hot, not helped by the small, charcoal stove cooking lunch. A family of six called this home, its area probably no more than 4 sq. Meters.

     Being faced by such poverty can be very hard to stomach, especially with the reality that there is very little we can do about it.  Even the big aid agencies find it difficult to deal with these situations in Somalia and to plan some kind of long term solution.  However, our awkwardness has often been eased by the warmness of the people, the pride in their eyes and, the dignity with which they present themselves and their children. We have shared songs, done silly dances, juggled stones; and left to squeals of delight by blowing bubbles as the children run after our vechile. 

     One of our favorite ploys has been to perform ‘guerilla’ style impromptu shows.  This usually happens when we find ourselves in a market or at a truck-stop cafe and we begin very gently to monkey around.  Often it’s Arran doing a hat trick or two that gets things going and then the rest of us will fall in step and before long an impromptu show has appeared from no-where complete with live music. Often slightly in shock, the gathering crowds react with cheering and applauding. It is this kind of ‘happening’ that turns the ordinary into the extraordinary.

     The impact of this kind `play`is hard to quantify, but one thing is for sure, the locals have definitely never seen the like of  4 Irish fools emerging from UN jeeps, unless of course Irish politicians have paid a visit here, but thats doubtful.  A simple ‘event’ such as this leaves behind smiles, new games for kids to continue and a good bit of amused and bemused talk for weeks. We are sure a welcome distraction from the daily grind and overbearing worries shouldered by everyone here. We leave behind a memory and a few tall tales to pass on.

     In light of the infrequent civil unrest and the threat of trouble we have armed escorts at all times.  It’s like being in a boy band without the groupies.  It sounds scary but its actually not that bad, the threat of violence is not imminent,  at least we hope not. Our guards are also pretty funny looking soldiers.  They have even gotten involved as volunteers for our routines.  As a result, what could be a tense relationship has actually proved to be surprisingly quite relaxed.

There is a documentary this Friday the 28th Jan at 1.30pm and 8.30pm on BBC World about Somalia and the plight the people are living in its called ‘Our World – Somalia’s Forgotten Suffering’.

With joy and camel milk,

Bryan, Will, Colm and Arran