Upupa Epops Cardboardus

The school play I directed had props which were more expensive or elaborate, but the hoopoe (pictured above) was my favourite. We made it ourselves, with cardboard mounted on a jute stick. The body is covered with gift wrap; the head, crest, tail and wings are coloured with acrylic paint. It has an aluminium-foil collar and mirrors for eyes. The wings are joined with a rubber band, so when you pull downwards on the strings, the hoopoe flaps its wings, like so:

The play was staged yesterday: that – and not the heat – is the real reason why I was blogging infrequently in the last few weeks. I was more nervous about the play than I have been about anything in the recent past.

This play was our school’s entry in a theatre competition. Our school has always called in professional directors for this competition, though some of us always felt that it was better to call former students, even if they are amateurs. Four years back, a friend and I had applied to direct the play, but we were told that we were not experienced enough. (In hindsight, they were probably right.) This year they relented, and we knew that if we could pull it off, our school might rethink its policy. Besides, our school has won this competition in the last two years, so expectations were high.

But there was no reason to be nervous. I should have known that a play with a hoopoe in it just couldn’t lose.