Stomp the Show Performance in Kuwait
I’m not sure how long its been since I’ve seen the ads for the show Stomp when travelling abroad, especially in London, but its always been there in the back of my mind and I’ve always, always, wanted to go watch it but never got around to doing so. If you’ve told me that I was destined to watch Stomp in Kuwait I would have laughed at loud and rolled my eyes in disbelief, what would Stomp be doing performing in Kuwait and where? But then dreams apparently do come true, for last week I held in my hand a VIP invitation to go and watch Stomp in Kuwait, yes Kuwait!
I’m liking this new streak of brining worldwide shows on tour to Kuwait. It started with children’s shows like sesame street but last November the organising company Event Mania did host Pilobolus Shadowland in Kuwait and though we only got to watch a glimpse of the real thing, it was quite refreshing and the future of shows in Kuwait seemed rife with possibilities. Almost a year later, there we were standing outside the dreadful venue, Kuwait’s Ice Skating Rink, to watch another world-class show, Stomp!
Why the ice skating rink, you say? Well, basically because the last time a decent theatre was built in Kuwait was in the 60’s or 70’s of the past century. However, there is a newly opened theatre in Salmiya and a couple more theatres -one rumoured to be an opera house!- being built around Kuwait so I’m hoping the next time we see an acclaimed show it would be in one of the newest venues. The ticket said the show starts at 7 and to be frank I didn’t even start driving towards the ice rink until after 7 because, well, nothing usually starts on time in Kuwait and the last time I was at the ice rink we waited over an hour, half of which outside the venue, fighting with the crowds to get inside. To my surprise, the event did start at 7 sharp which meant I was quite late but also didn’t fight anyone to get inside. Let that be a lesson to me, always assume the show will start on time from now on.
Hurrying through the gates of the ice rink I saw the sign for Starbucks coffees! Since when do they serve Starbucks in the ice rink? Also, judging by the litter left behind by the crowds after the show I could see empty Pinkberry frozen yoghurt cups and garrett’s popcorn bags so I guess the next time we go to see a show it will be well catered for with plenty of choise for things to munch on! When I got inside, there was a lady with a newborn baby still in his bed-like carry case we call “mhad” in Kuwait, the baby couldn’t be more than a month or two old, yet we were all led to our chairs quickly and swiftly without disturbing anyone.
It didn’t take us long after we sat down to join the general atmosphere. There isn’t a storyline per say, the performers where banging along anything and everything you could think of: trash cans, shopping trolleys, steel sinks, pipes, etc. and soon you found yourself clapping along or stomping your feet to the rhythm of their banging. Sometimes the lights went off and the banging was too loud, I felt sorry for the newborn baby resting in his mama’s arms. He must have been jolted awake with the sound, and some of the children -and there were many, many, MANY, children- who were afraid or crying or whining or simply didn’t get what was going on the stage, which was fun and quite entertaining by the way.
Then again you had to be over 8 or 9 years of old to actually appreciate it otherwise it would all be nothing but bangs and occasional darkness to you. I don’t understand why people in Kuwait assume that everything is suitable for their young children, horror movies included. The show, in case you will be catching it sometime in the future, is NOT for children. It DOES NOT say sesame street. There is nothing wrong with having a show that adults can enjoy, we need more of that actually, at least on monthly basis in Kuwait.
Sadly we are not allowed to show videos of the performance, and we did see a full almost two hours long performance this time. A video of any moment in the show would have you clapping and moving to the beat with a bit of comical situations thrown here and there. For a moment you forget where you are and all there is the music and the lights and the moment of fun. You could have been on the moon and you wouldn’t have paid attention.
When the show was over the cast of stomp greeted the show then we had the chance, bloggers and social media people, to meet with some members of the case for a quick Q&A and a photograph. Excellent show, stomp cast!
Thank you 7amad Qalam for your invitation and thank you Event mania for bringing in international shows, including Kuwait in their world wide tours! I can’t wait to see what show we will be performing next in Kuwait. Stomp was shown for five days from 22 – 25 October 2014 and all those who went had nothing but positive things to say about the show.
Did you see Stomp in Kuwait? How was it for you? Did you like it? I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
