Kissing automatic goodbye

Last night I attended the first session of a photography course I signed up for on Tuesday. It’s an 8-week course run by the folks at Belfast Exposed and I’ve been looking for something like this for a while. I bought my DSLR last summer but to be honest I haven’t gotten familiar with it at all. I tried to read various magazines and books on photography but to be honest I just ended up more bewildered. In fact last weekend I was trying to figure out some stuff when I got to the point that I thought I would never get the hang of this exposure/shutter speed/aperture/white balance/ISO etc etc malarkey! So I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I walked in the door of the classroom/studio last night. There are 4 others in the class – nice small number – and the tutor is dead friendly and approachable – “no question is a silly question”. I think my mouth dropped open when he announced that we’d be heading out to take photos shortly and that we’d be shooting in manual mode…I’ve never had the guts to go anywhere near the M on my camera dial! But after some basic instruction (which made so much more sense coming from a real live human being rather than a manual/book) and some useful pointers on getting exposure right, we set out for a dander round the cathedral quarter. With the sun dropping in the sky and casting great light on the buildings we were all in our element snapping away. I have to say it was truly liberating and I had a ball. After about an hour or so we headed back to load the photos onto the studio’s Macs. I was trying to play around with the exposure settings so I’m going to spend a bit more time looking at my photos when I get the time to try and get a feel for what works and what doesn’t, maybe once I’ve done that I’ll post a few of my photos (or maybe I’ll even set up a Flickr, we’ll see!). I took about 90-odd shots and there were only a few I was pleased with but to be honest I’m not worried, it was just great to be given an idea of how to go about things and it will give me a bit more confidence to play around with my camera a bit more. I was a bit freaked out when the tutor said that photography is all about numbers - the last time I was good with numbers was when I was 14 and had a maths teacher who was scary enough to ensure that you always had the correct answer ready for when she pounced on you. But I’m really looking forward to the next 7 weeks of the course, it’s money well spent already!

At the bottom of Ireland (or near enough)

A few weeks ago I spent the weekend in Cork visiting a friend I had gone to school with. I cheated and flew down rather than doing it in the car and on the way down had a really clear view of the east coast, including the Mournes, before the plane cut cross-country. It was my first time in Cork, the furthest south I’ve been is probably Galway or Bray. When I arrived Wendy took me for a wee wander round the city, it’s a pleasant place, if you’re into shopping I guess you’d enjoy all the usual high street stores. Wendy showed me the English Market which floated my boat more than the other shops – we got some lovely fresh bread, some salami, some cheese and a selection of olives for supper – mm-mm. For lunch Wendy took me to a wee café within the Crawford Art Gallery – it was a really lovely place and I had the tastiest chickpea salad ever. On the Saturday we took a drive to Cobh – famous for being the last pit-stop of the Titanic before it headed across the Atlantic. To be honest there wasn’t much to Cobh so we hopped back in the car after a wee cup of tea in the local heritage centre (heck I was on my holidays, so there was no need to rush things!), and drove to Kinsale. I have to say I really liked Kinsale – a cute wee harbour town, with its houses painted a variety of bright colours (some more tasteful than others it has to be said) and lots of wee nooks and crannies to explore. We found a couple of nice galleries – one with paintings by a guy called Eoin O'Connor which were really bright and cheerful, and the other showcasing the stunning black & white landscape photography of a local guy, Giles Norman.
Kinsale

The rest of the weekend was spent lazing around, catching up on each other’s news, watching DVDs etc. Oh and we went to the cinema and enjoyed watching Matt Damon kick some butt in Green Zone (good movie). All in all I think I’m more of a Donegal or West Coast girl – I need hills and mountains. The area around Cork is a bit flat and I kind of felt like something was missing. Although you’re never far from the sea geographically, it’s really hard to get a good view of the sea – we drove to the other side of Kinsale to find a beach. But all in all it was a great weekend break and i must get down to planning my next one!

The beach at Old Head

Merlin's Keep, Kinsale

Hen night

Last night I attended my friend Shalini’s Bhangra and Ladies Sangeet – her Indian hen do, which involved food, music and dancing – always a good combination particularly when you get a proper curry (no Patak’s jars in sight!) and some good Bollywood music. In between the starter and main course, the Indian ladies gathered on the floor for a bit of drumming and singing, and following tradition, Shalini danced with each of the members of her family, with her aunts, her uncles (it’s no longer strictly just a ladies-only event), with Barry her fiancé and with her friends as a way of celebrating her forthcoming marriage. It was a really lovely way for family and friends to gather and express their joy in each other and for each other.

2010!

I’ve just spent 2 deliciously chilled out days with friends in Bushmills celebrating the New Year. We headed for the beach yesterday and had a bracing dander along Portstewart Strand – despite the chilliness (what a contrast to 3 weeks ago when I was sunning myself on a S African beach!) the views were worth it, the craic was mighty and it was a really great way to embrace the New Year.

2009 didn’t exactly turn out the way I’d hoped but I’ve got loads to be thankful for, not least good friends and family who bring a joy that goes deep. I was blessed to be able to get a job so soon after my contract with PCI YAC finishing in June, and although the new job is a little all-consuming at times I relish the challenges, I get to work with some great people and the learning is immense. Getting to travel to S Africa with work is also not to be sniffed at! Looking out from the standpoint of a New Year, I’m hopeful about 2010 - maybe my hip will finally get fixed and I’ll get into the hills or on the river once again, regardless I’m determined to be positive and take what comes.

Happy New Year folks!

Editors in Belfast

Ruth & I have been doing well for going to gigs these days – on Wednesday night after some tasty Spanish tapas and a takeaway hot chocoloate to warm our hands, we saw Editors at St George’s Market. We were a bit disappointed with the acoustics and the support act weren’t overly inspiring (just too loud for our wee delicate ears!) but Editors were brilliant!!! Tom Smith’s vocals were so good live – intense and powerful like the music they create. They played all their great tunes from the first two albums and a lot of their new material. I hadn’t been so sure about the new single, Papillon when I’d heard it the first few times on the radio, but on Wednesday night I was sold on it and I’m looking forward to getting the new album, the new stuff is great.

...All Ruth and I need to do now is some research and suss out what's going to be our next gig and all-round good night out!

Across the water

I got back on Monday from a long weekend in Aberdeen catching up with friends from my uni days. It’s hard to believe that it’s over 11 years since I graduated and it's about 3 years since I was last across but it’s always great to know you’ve got good friends with whom you can just pick up where you left off. The weather was generally kind with beautiful blue skies every day although I nearly got blown away on Saturday with the strong winds. And I’d forgotten it’s always a few degrees nippier in the north-east than at home! On Friday I met up for lunch with a friend on the main King’s College campus(King's College chapel in photo above) in beautiful Old Aberdeen and then I wandered into the city-centre to enjoy the luxury of having time to browse in a bookshop and play a little with a DLSR I’ve bought recently. I’ve always wanted to at least half-know what I’m doing with a camera so not being able to kayak these days makes room for learning something new! On the way into the city-centre I came across this beautiful old graveyard.I also got to the beach a couple of times (see below) and my friend Jim took me for a look around Footdee, a small quaint community located at the harbour mouth (also below). I’d never even registered the existence of this old fishing village when I studied in Aberdeen.On Monday morning I took a walk with Norma to the 13th century Brig o’ Balgownie which was very peaceful and we even spotted a few basking seals.Overall it was a much-needed and welcome break I can tell you!

Awake my Soul

Ruth & I headed to the Open House Festival on Sunday night to see Mumford & Sons. Laura Marling was headlining the event with support also from The Lowly Knights but it was the 4-piece from London which I was really keen to see. I happened to catch them one day on Radio 1 back in the spring I think, and I had been instantly grabbed by their ‘New Folk’ sound and also the huskiness of the voice of lead singer, Marcus Mumford. About a month ago I noticed from their MySpace they were playing Belfast and made a beeline for the tickets. We were not disappointed – they were awesome! Moving lyrics, voices blending beautifully to give you chills up your spine, passion and flair…this band creates great music which at times makes you want to stomp with joy and at others your soul is stirred by the depths they take you to. I was struck by their humility, I just got the sense that these are 4 guys who want you to like them for their music and not because they’re ‘cool’, and I daresay that’s a rare thing in the music business. I can’t wait to my hands on their debut album and I hope they come back to Belfast soon!

Want to be part of a flash mob?!

I just got back today from my first work residential with Public Achievement and it was great! I have to say that considering I only started the job 5 weeks ago and being told ‘you’re running a residential for 26 young people from 4 different areas across NI in 4 weeks’ time’ was kind of like being thrown in somewhere fairly close to the deep end, it’s a big relief to have not only survived but also to have been part of something that turned out really well. My team of 5 trainee youth workers were fantastic – totally dedicated to the young people, and they are doing some really meaningful work with the young people in these 4 locations. This residential represents the start of what’s going to be a really interesting heritage project and we’ll be supporting the young people to produce 4 exhibitions on their communities giving voice to their perspectives of where they live and the issues they face. Over the last 5 days, the young people had a blast, engaged with the issues really well, and listened to and learned from each other at a pretty deep level. Several said that before this residential they would never have spoken to someone from the ‘other’ community. It wasn’t always easy but I believe that staying at Corrymeela was one of the crucial factors in the residential’s success – those guys know how to do community and provide such a sense of safety – the young people noted how the Corrymeela staff and volunteers always seemed to be happy! I also enjoyed being able to smell the sea and look out across to Rathlin Island… It’s a beautiful thing when you get to see young people grow in confidence, hear others (and by that I just don't mean listen!), take a few risks in being honest, and also tell it like it is! I’m absolute bushwhacked but looking forward to chilling out over the next few days.

All in all the new job is a fantastic opportunity for me to continue growing and learning as a youth worker, I’ve so much to take in and learn and already I’m not exactly sure I’m ever going to get on top of things, but I’m loving it! In addition, PA’s offices are in the Cathedral Quarter of Belfast and I’ve been enjoying being in this part of town. I’ve been discovering all sorts of interesting nooks and crannies – exhibitions and the like, plus today I had the most amazing bagel from Bagel Bagel on Donegall Street – they called it the ‘Spaniard’ with hard-boiled egg, chorizo sausage, olives and salsa – not the kind of combination you’d expect, but man it was good!

Right it’s time for an episode of the West Wing and then BED!

I Miss Communism

A couple of weeks ago I took the opportunity to go to the theatre at the Island Arts Centre, Lisburn with a friend to see a show called I Miss Communism. I’m not often at the theatre and this doesn’t sound like your average production but it’s a funny and heartwarming one-woman show which I’d been wanting to see for a while because 3 years ago I met the actress herself through Couchsurfing! Ines had been performing her show as part of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival that year and had surfed my couch for a couple of nights. I didn’t get to see the show then but we seemed to click and stayed in touch. We managed to catch up very briefly in ’07 again whilst she was touring Ireland and the UK and then she got in touch last month when she reached Irish soil for another tour.

I’m really glad I’ve had the opportunity to see the show now, it is different and quirky, comical and touching. It’s amazing how one person can carry the audience’s attention for an entire hour and a quarter. Ines is off to spend some time in her native Croatia now but plans to return and should be touring Ireland again in the autumn, so if you get the chance, check it out.

The night after her performance in Lisburn, Ines and I got to hang out over good food (al fresco at Victoria Square with the good weather – even better!) and we also went to see Angels and Demons (Ewan McGregor’s accent was rather duff, but he played a great character. I couldn’t be bothered with the book but enjoyed the action as translated on the big screen and really liked the soundtrack - decent entertainment for a Friday night.)

Incidentally it’s International Couchsurfing Day this Friday. I haven’t received any couchsurfers in quite a while – I’m just not in the right place at the moment – but I definitely recommend it as a great way to meet people from all over the world and show that Irish hospitality hasn't totally gone away! Since I signed up 4 years ago I've met Virginie - a Quebecois, Ines the Croatian actress, Mirko - the chocolate-lover from Germany, Joanne & Lee from Australia, Anne - an American living in Seoul, Cate & Chris from Washington DC who came to Belfast just before Christmas '06 then returned the favour and hosted me when I was passing through their city 6 months later, Mike - a Canadian physiotherapist living in Germany, Ben the Aussie, Chris from Tasmania, Matyas from Hungary, Yorkshireman Pete, Wolf the German tree surgeon competing in the Irish Tree-climbing championships (really attractive bloke, but unfortunately very bad BO!), Anais the Parisian living in Berlin, Hisham from Egypt, Amanda, Brittany, Joanna and Andrea - all from the USA, Diego - the Italian chef who cooked me an amazing risotto, and finally Larry who hosted me in Phoenix, AZ, and Michal Lisa who let me stay for a whole 5 days in Flagstaff, AZ! Couchsurfing definitely makes the world feel a little bit smaller!

Life on the Ocean Wave
Yesterday afternoon I got back from having spent the weekend sailing for the first time in my life as part of a project with the Ocean Youth Trust. It was brilliant! In partnership with Youth Link: NI, OYT has been running an OCN Level 3 course in Community Relations Programme Development and I’ve been one of the Tutor/Assessors. So this weekend I was assessing 2 youth leaders as they ran their programme with a group of young people.

OYT Ireland has a boat called Lord Rank which is based at Bangor Marina, it’s a 68ft yacht with berths for 18 people plus sea-staff. On Friday night w had safety briefs etc to do so we didn’t set sail until Saturday morning. We spent the day sailing around in Belfast Lough doing tacks and jibes etc. The weather was absolutely beautiful – blue skies, blue sea – great stuff! We got decent wind on Saturday and got up to about 9 knots, but on the Sunday the winds were very light so we took it easy and just enjoyed the scenery and being on the water.

I would definitely do sailing again though I’m nowhere near getting to grips with all the terminology, ropework etc. The sea staff are fantastic – very patient and good at explaining stuff…again and again! It was great getting the opportunity to be hands-on and do all sorts of tasks – winching, hoisting sails, pulling sails in, flaking sails (folding them so that they can be put to bed for the night etc), looking after fenders, bow-& stern-lines when coming into the pontoon etc. OYTI is a great organisation so if you’re a youth leader/worker I would definitely check them out. Sailing is a great teambuilding exercise for a group of young people and doing a programme in the outdoors like that has that extra something.

I was bushed when I got home yesterday and still had the sensation of being at sea, the room felt like it was gently rocking around me! But I feel re-energised having had a little adventure. A couple of weeks ago there had been some problems with the programme and we thought this weekend would be cancelled so I was feeling that what with my hip injury everything was working against me – no Scotland kayak trip, no Nepal trip, no sailing. But thankfully it worked out and I really enjoyed getting out on the water and feeling all that fresh air on my face! Doing the winches and hoisting the sails took more than just upper body movement – you end up putting your whole body into it, so my hip was a bit sore on Saturday night and last night but I think generally it’s beginning to improve. It’s definitely going to be a long and slow recovery but hopefully it will eventually be ok. It was just really good this weekend, and almost therapeutic, to feel a bit more active, do something outdoorsy and forget about everything for a bit.

This weekend I’ve been on a first aid course at Tollymore Mountain Centre and had a really good time. I’m hoping to do the Mountain Leader training at some point this year and I also would like to do a kayak coaching award so this particular course is useful for all that kind of stuff especially as I haven’t done any first aid stuff since my teens. TMC is a great spot, really great facilities and excellent cooking (I might have to go on rations for a few days having had two cooked breakfasts this weekend!) and the forest was looking quite picturesque today with the snowfall this morning. The course was very good with a good balance between theoretical and practical stuff so we regularly got split into 3s to do practical scenarios – one person playing the role of the casualty, another the main first aider and the third person the assistant first aider. It’s pretty scary walking into an unknown situation with a casualty on the ground before you and I found it difficult to keep a clear head and remember all the protocols. I think it’s the kind of thing that the more you practice the better you get. I hope I never have to use it in real-life but I’m glad I’ve got some training under my belt now. There were 12 of us on the course and the craic was good. I had good fun pretending to be a ‘combative casualty’ giving dog’s abuse to my first aiders about the stick which had supposedly impaled my hand after a fall. The other participants were all outdoor enthusiasts from a variety of backgrounds. One of the guys whom I estimated to be in his 50s was an avid fell-runner who described a local 10 mile route as a nice ‘wee’ run and tried to get us to sign up for the next Mournes Seven Sevens (a walking and fell-running race taking in the 7 highest summits in the Mournes) event! I’d consider walking it but never running it!

One of things Ruth & I did last week in Donegal was to climb Muckish – Donegal’s second highest mountain. When I say climb, well, we got most of the way! We got about three-quarters of the way up to the snow-line when Ruth felt she’d done quite well enough. I headed on up another wee bit for about 5 minutes leaving her with instructions to keep moving as it would have completely foundered ye (as they say in the country) and discovered that we had reached a false summit and there was probably one fairly more steep bit to go that would probably take at least another 20 minutes to get up. When I got back to Ruth she’d been busy taking some of the great photos below and we admired the wonderful scenery then slid & laughed most of the way down – it was rather wet and boggy! We’d parked the car on a dirt-track which got progressively boggier the further we went with more and more grass growing up the middle but on the way back to Rathmullan we noticed a road we’d missed previously which we have a feeling leads to a carpark and possibly a better/clearer route to the top. But sure, we had a good day out and some day I’ll go back and explore a bit more.

Errigal is mid-right in the picture.

The view towards Falcarragh.

After a wee picnic at the side of the road we did a little exploring round Fanad Head and I showed Ruth my favourite beach in Donegal and discovered that Ruth had sailed to this beach from the other side years ago with her family!

This is the beach at Rathmullan, I think it’s another one of my favourites now:

Beach-Run
I just got back this afternoon from 5 days’ leave in Donegal with a good friend, Ruth, and it was sheer bliss to chill out and not have to do anything. I’ll write more about it in the next few days but to get you started, I wrote the following on Wednesday…

Donegal is such a beautiful place. Where we’re staying is just a couple of minutes from the beach in Rathmullan. We woke up this morning to find everywhere covered in frost and the weather forecast highlighting the possibility of rain turning to snow later tonight. My car has only defrosted in the last hour (It’s almost 1pm as I write). After taking time to get up slowly (oh the bliss of being off!), having a leisurely breakfast and then reading for a while, I decided to go for a run along the beach. It was definitely nippy outside but once I got going I was grand. I ran along the road for a bit to get to the far end of the beach but that was a bit unnerving because of some black ice on the road. Once I got onto the beach I felt more surefooted and it was good to be able to run on the soft sand compared with the hard pavements of East Belfast. The best thing was the view – the flat calm of the sea, a completely clear, blue sky, the sun shining and glinting off the frost on the sand, snow on the hills on the other side of Lough Swilly…everything looked and felt crisp, clear, clean and fresh – absolutely GLORIOUS! I ran to the rocks at the end of the beach and started clambering over them to get to the other beach. Alas the tide was in so I came to a deep channel and could go no further. But it had been fun to try and I just soaked up the scenery for a bit. To be honest this run wasn’t so much about the exercise as about drinking in the beauty of the world around me. I definitely live in one of the most beautiful countries on the planet.

Up to this point I’d had the beach to myself but then as I turned and went back up again I met a couple of dog-walkers and we commented on the perfection of the day. One lady summed it up pretty well, that it was a day where you feel it’s great to be alive. To push myself seeing as I wasn’t covering a big distance I did about 6-7 sprints [N.B. 'sprint' is probably a generous description but let's just say I went at a faster pace than normal!] between the lifebuoy markers, probably only about 50 yards between each one but that was quite enough for me to do at a time! So now it’s great to be back from my run, showered, fed & watered, and feeling a huge sense of satisfaction. How amazing would it be to live somewhere where you could do such a beautiful beach-run everyday?

Unfortunately I’ve developed a bit of a head-cold since Wednesday – if it was the run that did it I don’t really care – it was worth it! The snuffles etc prevented me from doing any more beach-runs but we had danders on the beach yesterday & today (which helped ease my aching buttocks after those sprints haha!) and even a bit of stargazing last night so it’s been a great week. As my camera died in Arizona, no photos yet, but hopefully I’ll post a few of Ruth’s here soon.

Yesterday I was in Stroke City for the day leading a Field Trip for a group of Protestant youth leaders whom I’ve been training to deliver the Preparing Youth to be Peacemakers programme. It was absolutely BALTIC! I haven’t been as cold as that for ages. The temperature gauge in the minibus registered 5.7 degrees when we got to Derry but it definitely felt colder with the wind chill. We did two walking tours, one with a guide coming from a Protestant perspective and the other with a guide from a Republican perspective. The guides were excellent and knew their facts and their city well. For dinner we ate together at the City Hotel in the company of a couple of Catholic youth workers who allowed the group to ask loads of questions about their faith perspective. The group really enjoyed the day and it’s probably been the best Field Trip I’ve been a part of in terms of the input of the guides and engagement of the group. Stories were exchanged and I think there is something powerful in that. At another meeting I was at this week a group of us were discussing how when two people share their stories with each other they go away from that encounter changed at some level for having heard each other’s stories. I really like Derry, it’s just not your average city and has got a lot of character to it and fascinating history. If you’re ever in that neck of the woods definitely take the chance to get to know the place a little better through the eyes of qualified guides who will maybe push your buttons and challenge your conceptions but definitely open your eyes.

(Photo courtesy of CAIN)

This is going to be a great event to celebrate faith-based peacebuilding work in Northern Ireland. If you're a youth leader/worker, bring your young people!

Yesterday I took to the hills as there was no paddling happening. I decided to do the Slieve Binnian walk that I did last November as I was short on time. It was glorious! Although a bit hazy there was full-on sunshine this time at the top and no fog, no helicopters and no William Crawley! The last time I hadn't realised that when you get to the top of Slieve Binnian you're looking right over into the Silent Valley reservoir - it had been completely obscured by the fog that day! There were even a few snowflakes left at the top.

There were a fair number of folks making the most of the weather – some climbers doing the North Tor, a couple of fell runners whizzing up and down even the steep sections and others out for the dander.
Ben Crom Reservoir

Yesterday I got to see the Terracotta Warriors at the British Museum! I flew to London on Monday to meet up with Melanie, my travelling companion on my China adventure 2 years ago. Yesterday morning we managed to get tickets for the exhibition (I think they’re all sold out until January/February, but they release 500 tickets everyday at 9.15am) and I have to say it was excellent. The story behind these life-size clay figures is really extraordinary. Basically the First Emperor (born 259 BC) was a bit paranoid about dying and wanted to rule forever, so he got his minions to build him an underground palace complex and fill it with clay solders, animals, musicians etc to keep him company in the afterlife. A clay head was discovered by a farmer in 1974 and since then they’ve uncovered 7,000 warriors. They haven’t however excavated the emperor’s tomb itself as they’re afraid of causing damage to whatever is there. The area of this underground ‘city’ covers 35 square miles! Each terracotta warrior has unique facial features and the level of detail is amazing, apparently it took 36 years to complete the project. Truly amazing stuff. Obviously it would be really nice to see the site in situ in X’ian but somehow I don’t think I’ll be getting back to China in the near future, so this will do for now. Having said that the British Museum exhibition of approximately 25 warriors allows you to get pretty close which owing to my previous experiences of Chinese tourism I’m not totally sure you would get in China. If you’re in London anytime between now and April, it’s definitely worth your while checking out this exhibition!



(Photos come courtesy of British Museum website)

He gets everywhere!

Canoe Club was cancelled on Saturday so I decided to take advantage of the good weather and headed to the Mournes. I climbed Slieve Binnian, I’ve never been up there before. Unfortunately by the time I got to the top some cloud had come down so visibility was restricted and I didn’t get to enjoy the views there. But after a spot of lunch I headed on along the crest passing lots of huge rocky outcrops. I rounded one corner and lo and behold there was a film crew and William Crawley in the middle of a shoot! Two people crossed my path, I thought at first they were walkers and they said hi, and I commented, “He gets everywhere doesn’t he!” It was at that point that I noticed the walkie-talkie in the woman’s hand and realised they were with the film crew. Felt slightly wick! So I hurried on my way – I wasn’t feeling particularly photogenic after puffing and panting my way up to the top – and then came across another couple, this time definitely walkers and I warned them what was going on up ahead. They had been wondering what all the fuss was about having heard a helicopter flying around and we lamented our escape to the country being spoiled by noisy choppers! As I came round the other side of the North Tor of Binnian the cloud lifted and I got some fantastic views of the mountains surrounding me. I was kicking myself for having forgotten my camera. Ben Crom reservoir was looking a little low in water – it’s not just kayakers that want more rain! It was so great to get out of the city and get away from everything. Being surrounded by the mountains did my heart good. I felt alive.

Truth in Translation

Last Thursday night I got the opportunity to see Truth in Translation which is playing at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast until this Saturday as part of the Festival. Basically it tells the story of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa from the perspective of the interpreters. It's a musical and although there are only 2 musicians, the music and songs are really powerful along with the performance of the excellent cast. it made me laugh out loud in places and want to cry in places. I strongly recommend if you can get a ticket to go see it. It's the kind of thing I'd like to see 2 or 3 times, I think I'd get more out of it each time.