Ibu Fatriah M. Nur, watching from the back of the wooden community centre, smiled and said her daughter "forced me to come. But I'm glad she did. I haven't laughed like this in..." She trailed off, and looked away.
A year later, the feelings here are mixed. Many can talk openly about the families they lost, and launch into their stories of how they survived as if pushing a button. Others, like Ibu Nur, shake their heads with a sad smile.
"If there is an earthquake, we look to the sea. Sometimes we're happy, sometimes we're afraid. Of floods, of tsunami. So this is a good message they're telling the children, that there is hope. And getting together like this is fun."
CARE's psychosocial programme works with survivors to rebuild the kind of community activities and sense of security that were lost in the tsunami. "Through art, sport and events like tonight's show, CARE is working together with people to motivate them to look at the positive," said Liny Edyawati, the head of CARE's Psychosocial Support Programme.
It is sometimes difficult, and the memory of the tsunami lingers, even when the community comes together for an hour of carefree laughter and stories.
"Everyone knows there was a tsunami," said the main performer, a famous Acehnese poet. "But we have to learn from it, and you have. How you deal with problems - by coming together as a community, like you are now -- is how we must face the future."
As the performers packed up their travelling caravan of music and toys, a little girl in a frilly pink shirt shyly touched the hand of a CARE worker and smiled.
"That show was very funny. If you could come back," she said in a tiny voice, "we would be very happy."
