“What are you here for?!” the comic man on stage questions the audience in all seriousness. He is dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and a pair of khaki shorts accompanied by long white socks and tekkies. With an air of friendliness which surrounds him he involves himself with the audience on a personal level.
Before an inspirational word is uttered, this man makes sure to walk past the skeptical students, greeting them and shaking a few of their hands before making his way onto stage. Once he’s made his way onto the stage he empties out his pockets onto the small podium before him, and a bunch of daisies finds its way into his hand. Then, to the crowds delight, he singles out an audience member to be the recipient of the gift. Climbing over the red clad seats of the Wynand Mouton theatre he makes his way to the lucky girl and bequeaths the bouquet to her. Temporarily satisfied with his deeds he proceeds with his presentation.
The name of this man is Brendon Greeley, although he introduces himself as Postmaster Corrie Campbell, and the character that he presents to the eager students is filled with honesty and enthusiasm, and can be perceived as very real because of his common language faults and tendency to become over-excited.
‘We are all living in a box! Like this,” he demonstrates by placing a cardboard box on his head with mere slits for his eyes, “We are closed off from the world in here, and what we need to do is open ourselves up to change!”
Brendon puts on a comical performance for mostly large corporations and businesses in order to inspire workers to think outside of the box and to embrace change in their lives. He demonstrates the ‘breaking free’ from one’s own box through physical demonstration. Each audience member receives a cardboard box which they place on their heads in order to demonstrate the world’s close-minded attitude and how they should break free of it. In actual fact, the University of the Free State (UFS) played a crucial role in the development of this show during Success Week this year. Every first year student which was present in the Callie Human on welcoming day received a box which they placed on their heads, aiming to break a world record for the highest number of people in one area with boxes on their head! It is still uncertain as to whether or not a record was actually broken, but it will be confirmed soon. As trivial as a large group of people with boxes on their head may seem, it represents something much bigger – how people should leave their comfort zone and embrace change.
Through the use of elaborately descriptive stories from his characters everyday experiences, such as his interactions with his mother and co-workers at the post office he helps manage, as well as practical methods he opens the audience up to the idea of change. One of the first practical methods makes use of is the passing around of an animal skin, during which he asks you to close your eyes as he describes a wilderness scene for you. When the audience opens their eyes again he asks whether they were able to hear the unheard; could you only hear all of the sounds that he described for you, or could you imagine hearing even more than what he had described. Brendon, or Corrie rather, believes that you need to hear the unheard in order to embrace and realize change in oneself.
This declaration results in two musical numbers taking shape between Brendon and the audience. He plays the flute, as the audience claps, clicks their fingers and sings along with him, and as a result his message begins to sink in. Hearing the unheard is just one way of phrasing Corrie Campbell’s philosophy: Hear the unheard, remove the box and open your mind up to change – these are the steps one must take towards success.
“If you will change for me,” Brendon states as we near the end of the show, pointing into the crowd with defiance, “Then I will change for you…”
This statement resulted in the funniest, yet most awkward moment of the night as Joe Cockers voice filled the auditorium with ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On’, and Postmaster Corrie Campbell began to strip himself of his clothes before the eyes of the mainly female audience.
Brendon Greeley left the audience with not only a message to embrace change and to become open minded, but also to be proud of one’s heritage. South African’s have a vast amount of potential which is waiting to be discovered, and it is up to the youth of the country to prosper and embrace it. After all, as Corrie Campbell states, “The world is your lobster.”
By Nicole Heyns |