Story of the month
I want to be honest at the beginning
But let’s start from the beginning…
We have been in contact with Sean McKeown, the former artistic director of Cirque du Soleil, for several months. Sean actually lives in Argentina, but has had a project in Luxembourg for the last few months. He invited us directly to the premiere and put us on the guest list for the VIP tent of his open-air show. We couldn’t refuse such an invitation. So it happened that Jakob and I spontaneously set off for Luxembourg on Friday morning. After a stopover in Cologne, where we had arranged two more meetings, we arrived in Esch d’Alzette in Luxembourg around 5 pm. Esch was a European Capital of Culture this year and Sean’s show was to be the crowning glory of a year of 160 events.
Arrival open air area
Arriving at the venue, an imposing industrial wasteland, we took our cue from Sean’s descriptions. “Hey guys, both your names are on the guest list. I’m still in final preparations with the team. Just go to the VIP tent. On a long road you’ll see it just to the left. See you in a minute.”
Attentive amateur navigators will have noticed it straight away. The statement has two not so irrelevant inaccuracies: Which is the long road when there are several “long roads” on and around the site, and what does “directly left” mean when you don’t even know where you are?
Our solution: With the kind of self-assurance that only a German father can exude when he explains to his son where the electrical cables in the house run and where you can drill, we follow an elegantly dressed couple who lead us to a large, festively decorated tent.
While the couple just walked in, we got stuck at the registration desk. Further blessed with the self-assurance of a DIY father, we registered with the sentence: Stallmann and Hase, we are on the guest list. With the increasing irritation and hustle and bustle on the other side of the registration, our confidence dwindled, so we quickly followed it up with the sentence, “Sean put us on the guest list, that’s the director of the show right there.” The faces of the ladies at the reception looked even more irritated. At the moment when we were already about to retreat in shame, a young lady came up with the instruction to her colleagues: “That’s no problem just write them on the list.”
The birthday crasher
And already we were in. In the VIP tent in Esch d’Alzette, ready for the show! An euphoria that quickly faded. Uhhh, why are the men wearing suits or dinner jackets here and the women fine evening dresses? And why are we standing here in sneakers, white tennis socks, jeans and loose linen shirt? Are we underdressed?
The riddles were solved by the few French words I understood from the stage: “C’est un grand honneur….” , “Mon père, qui a construit cette entreprise”, “On te fête ce soir” – Damn. We have ended up at the birthday party of a very wealthy industrialist….
Well, a German father might find the electrical wiring but end up drilling into the water pipe.
Slightly embarrassed and scrutinised from all sides, we left the tent and shortly afterwards found the right tent on the long road directly to the left, where our names were also already on the list.
The show was incredibly beautiful and spectacular and will certainly find a place in a “Story of the Month”. But that was our story for now, how we sneak onto guest lists.
In the end, all that remains is to congratulate the birthday child from afar. The party was very nice, we would probably come again. Next time with an invitation 😉
