Theatre in a diner, then a coffee shop, now a bar... how do you follow that up? On a bus, of course!
A bus? Yes, folks, it can be done! We had the great pleasure of participating in Halifax's first Nocturne festival (
http://www.nocturnehalifax.ca/). Nocturne: Art at Night was planned to showcase and celebrate the arts scene in this city. There was an awesome program guide with maps highlighting all sorts of galleries, exhibitions and special performances. And there was a free bus from 6 pm to midnight that took people along a route dotted with the galleries and exhibitions. The people on the bus - besides going up and down - were also entertained by a roster of performers that changed hourly.
Which is where we came in. Danielle, the coordinator for the bus performers, contacted Garry about performing and then Garry passed along the invitation for the DaPoPoli to jump on board.
As it turned out, Garry did a loop himself (Nocturne Bus 2, Trip 4) digging into his purple bag of wonderfulness for - among many things - finger puppets to do sonnets, his Canadian maple leaf politician tie to deliver Steve Cloutier's satirical anti-arts speech, his pipe to do an existential monologue from "Biography: A Game" as Hannes. He had an involved audience who asked questions and responded so well to the performances. He says it was incredibly joyful to do.
Sher and Kim teamed up for still a different time slot (Nocturne Bus 1, Trip 4) and entertained both themselves and their ever-changing ridership with a massive cross-section of typical Café fare, passing out cards with Café dates and talking up DaPoPo to boot. There was a wonderful reading of a one-act play staged in the seats amidst the passengers. The play had the "audience" in stitches and even kept some people on the bus past their stop. We also had the opportunity to dig out some children's items... Creepy Crawly Caterpillar and James and the Giant Peach, when we two young art lovers joined us. Kim's waitresses made their appearances and at the request "...do something from My Fair Lady!" there was an impromptu, unrehearsed rendition of "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" - with choreography! Lamb puppets whispering in people's ears. Dinosaurs separated by the chasm of an aisle snorting and singing "I Get Along Without You Very Well" Brutus and Cassius soliloquizing and being interrupted by a bit of an argument at one of the stops. Clutching at seat backs and overhead poles to avoid being tossed to the ground during an exuberant excerpt from Good Night Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet. Good times!
Eric was on still another trip. He got on one of the last buses with merely a music stand and Shakespeare's sonnets. He read them in sequence with the encouragement of the four final riders and got all the way up into the 60's before the bus returned to the origin at the Saint Mary's University Art Gallery.
Ah... merrily we rolled along, and in such different ways. I wish I had pictures, but I was too busy enjoying the moments to take out the camera. It should always be like that!
If you missed Nocturne this year, fear not. They were already talking about next year's festival at the after-party that same night! So keep an ear to the ground and as always, read the arts and entertainment listings in the papers, wherever you can online and stay tuned to the radio. And pass the word along...
Blake, our Musical Theatre trained bartender and photographer, provided us with these pictures to wish you a Happy New Year! 
yay! a café that felt like home. veteran café cast members (garry, eric, sher, amy, nathan, bonnie et moi) that had rehearsed together consistently. menz completely tricked out for h'ween so the atmosphere was so appropo. even the tv got turned off (and those of you who know, know 'zackly what i mean). cozy, candle-lit tables peppering the dance floor. patrons of the fan, friend, family and unfamiliar forms. thank you so much to all. so appreciative of having an audience.
raymond who brought a friend who found inspiration for a documentary in one of the rants. amy macA who fought the call of her bed to come and see what the café was all about... subsequently inspiring the idea to have a mt. a reunion at a café!
darrell having a busy busy (read: great) night serving at the bar. keeping focus at the table in a quiet, dramatic, real monologue despite nearby showtune belting. rants about mice, herpes and halloween. keelin already busting a gut on the first line of daBig ensemble scene. running out of time with orders left to fill for latercomers, the dj graciously waiting to set up for his dance party. a new patron drinking it all in and reflecting that sometimes he couldn't tell who was acting and who wasn't - in a good way.
As part of the Go North! Festival celebrating the North End and the amazing community of artists and small businesses there, DaPoPo put on an all-day Café buffet at The Good Food Emporium.
One particular tour was greeted with the beautiful chorus of "Sunday" from our production of "Sunday in the Park with George" Then a rapid fire sonnet, a monologue from "Apocalypse 2006" and a scene from our adaptation of "RUR" and they were out the door to the next stop on the tour.
Meg dropped by on her way to the last performance of her show "Honey & Jupiter" but we couldn't entice her to perform. Bonnie organized us all and jumped into the fray when the big groups came.
