Njok,

Very nice! Wishing you all the best.

Regards,

Mboge

On Sun, Jun 6, 2010 at 6:59 PM, Malik Jeng <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>
>  Visit us at www.yaram.org
> r
> NM
> ------------------------------
> Date: Sat, 5 Jun 2010 07:23:47 -0700
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [>-<] Fela! Revisited: Breaking it down
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>  **
> *Fela! Revisited: Breaking it down
> *
>
>
> Fela! is more than a play, writer says
> This musical celebrating the life of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, delivers a vision
> which connects history and the contemporary moment. The more I see this fine
> work of art, the more I uncover layers of brilliance.
> By Ebele Oseye
> May 27th, 2010
>
>
> *[Theater: Fela!]*
>
> Who is Obalogun?
>
> Who are the monsters who kill with their terrible cries? What happens when
> the Cat wakes up?
>
> I thought that I had entered a dream during my first viewing of Fela! at
> the Eugene O'Neill Theater early in December 2009.
> I was so immersed in a collision of colors and the orchestrated pandemonium
> that I could barely breathe.
>
> Early in Act I, I had to pull away from the cosmic energies so furiously
> spinning to ask, "What mind could harmonize such breathtaking wonder?"
>
> To my far right, in a box seat sat Director and Choreographer, Bill T.
> Jones. He was the visible presence of years of incredibly hard work,
> research, collaboration, patience, experience and sheer talent.
>
> At my most recent viewing, Saturday 22 May 2010, ticket holders  started
> fancy stepping in the lobby and we kept shaking until we reached our seats,
> enjoying the live music which precedes the opening of each show: the
> Afrobeat created by musician and activist, the internationally celebrated,
> Fela Anikulapo Kuti, title role played by Sahr Nguajah and  Kevin
> Mambo.
>
> How to describe  Fela!? Fela! is timeless, almost uncanny and timless as we
> see the horrific results of oil gushing in the Gulf of Mexico, destroying
> livelihoods and lives. Fela! is life-affirming educational entertainment. It
> has everything that most popular literature lacks; it gives us an
> indispensable teaching tool.
>
> It is true recreation (re-creation): an experience which connects us to
> self-knowledge, an experience which continuously makes us new.
>
> It is art born of a magnificent imagination which comprehends science and
> art. Compassion flows in every song, in every dance. It is art which allows
> the audience to dream. It is art layered with beauty and terror. It is light
> in its complete spectrum.  It speaks truth effectively, in a word or in
> dance. It speaks truth with courage regarding religion, enslavement and
> economic exploitation. It connects us to history and African culture,
> especially the Yoruba culture of Nigeria.
>
> It is the coming together of Africans born on the continent and Africans
> born in America.
>
> In Act I of two acts, Fela! tells many stories  within the main story of
> the protagonist's struggles to live in a corrupt Nigeria following
> independence from the British. While Fela's mother, Funmilayo, has already
> been murdered by the state  as the musical opens, she comes to life through
> dream, and through memory. A cat, ornately sculptured, is placed near her
> portrait.
> There could be trouble when the Cat wakes up. Act I begins as the
> narratives of all world heroes begin, with a departure. Fela will leave
> Nigeria and begin a physical journey to London, New York, California,
> Berlin, Madrid and other international localities.
> But the greater dangers occur in Act II as Fela struggles to make the
> ascent, to reach the higher realm of the ancestors so that he can
> communicate with his mother. Here he risks mind and body in order to save
> himself and community. The story will come full circle when Fela returns
> home.
>
> The circle is one of several powerful symbols which transports the
> audience. It's the movement of the clock.  It's in the nine wives who
> encircle Fela.
>
> Nine lights spiral on the floor all going counter clockwise, following the
> movement of planets and Sun in our own solar system--when viewed above the
> Sun. In another scene, there are fifteen circles to set another less
> pleasant mood.
>
> You can expect the circles to reverse direction and to increase the speed
> of rotation as things take a turn for the worse. And they do. All circles
> completely disappear from the stage when Fela is tortured.  There is a grate
> of square lights on the floor of the darkened stage.
>
> The general public, aspiring writers and other artists will benefit greatly
> from a closer look at symbols and techniques at work in this musical. The
> general public needs to protect itself from literature which deforms; our
> young can be transformed by literature which heals.
>
> How does Fela! generate such life supporting energies? Consider the basics:
> use of light and color, water and fire, iron, the cat and the rat, the
> ladder, and  the vehicles which facilitate the opening movement of both
> acts. In addition to symbols, there is  knowledge of physics expressed in
> the choreography and in the narrative of Obalogun, the great warrior.
> Dialogue between Fela and the audience and other devices create an
> underlying serenity which permeates the musical.
>
> The whole band unobtrusively rolling across the stage accompanies
> Funmilayo's movement during a dream. A lyrical gliding of the ladder
> accompanies Sandra Isadore ,played by Saycon Sengbloh, as she descends,
> singing a love song to Fela. These and other moments deepen introspection
> and balance high pitched emotion. The communication is brought full circle.
> It's no wonder that the air literally crackles with electricity as people
> emerge from the theater.
>
> One could simply follow the light and color and experience  pure
> exhilaration.
>
> In Fela! light is really brought to light. In contrast with the many scenes
> bathed in a lavish flow of colors, and pounding rhythmic  music,  there are
> scenes in  black and gray, all color drained from the stage during times of
> distress. Together with the absence of color there is silence. At one point
> there are 18 long seconds of pure black. That's taking a chance.  And it
> works. (It's allowing the battery to fully discharge so that it can fully
> recharge. )In contrast, when Funmilayo, played by Lillias White, hits those
> bone chilling  notes in her song of courage, she breaks the white full
> spectrum light into is component colors. And as her voice rises, the color
> gradually returns to the stage. In each act, the colors which Fela wears
> carry particular  importance: blue in Act I, pink and white in Act II..
> There was no way that he could make an ascent to a higher realm without
> being dressed in white.
>
> The song which Funmilayo sings is of Yemaya, mother of the Gods who saw her
> son, Obalogun, the great warrior, fighting the demons who kill with their
> cries. The warrior stuffed his ears with dirt when threatened by the
> monsters, lured them into his arms  then burst into flames, killing the
> demons and cleansing the earth.   But Yemaya  saw her son on fire and wept
> tears which changed to torrential rains and put out the flames which could
> have destroyed  her son.
>
> Ogun, whose colors are green and black, is the Orisha of iron, hunting and
> war. In the cosmos, iron behaves in ways identical to the behavior of this
> Orisha; hours after a star forms  iron, it will collapse and supernova.  In
> its exploding death the star will give birth to all the other elements in
> the periodic table in rapid succession. The ingredients needed for life on
> Earth come through the death of the star. Of course, there must be the
> cooling off, there must be  water in order for life to exist we know it.
> Ogun is associated creation and formation, as blacksmith, and associated
> with communal support as hunter, providing nutrition.
>
> Through iron, we have our connections to Obalogun; the core of our Earth is
> made of iron. Iron enables our red blood cells to carry oxygen, without
> which we would have no life.
>
> Science works closely with this art. The fantastic dance reflects a working
> knowledge of physics.  One must understand the laws of gravity before
> tossing  dancers horizontally, and elevating dancers overhead. Knowledge of
> culture is also indispensable in the creation of fine literature.  Fela,
> whose name means "he who shines with greatness" is from Abeokuta, a village
> known for its great warriors.  Anikulapo, he reminds us, means "I carry
> death in my pouch. No mortal can kill me."
>
> We'll all be singing, "Water no get enemy" for quite some time.  We are
> told that even if water kills your child, you will still have to use it.
> There is rich philosophical content in this work. Water is the sacred
> vehicle that will carry us to a higher realm in Act II..  In Act I the
> opening vehicle  was the bus which carried the embattled Fela people to
> jail. In the serenity of the water dance, which is a balance to the frenetic
> dance of the Orishas to follow, the dancers move as though peacefully rowing
> boats.  Sometimes the bodies of the dancers become the water itself. As the
> musical opens, we see large drops of water cross the portrait of Funmilayo
> which turns and comes to life each time Fela speaks of leaving Nigeria. The
> water is both tears and rain. As already cited, it is water which will save
> the warrior's life.
>
> In this musical, there are no curtains.  And yet, during one of the most
> harrowing scenes in Act II there are two "curtains" of the thinnest fabric
> which allow us to see Fela as he journeys and prepares to enter his mother's
> realm. It's no easy trip. Here, the drum, the impulse of life, and the
> Egungun of the spirit world, entrap Fela,  each approaching from opposite
> ends of the passage, the drums rapidly beating and the spirit as rapidly
> dancing with the struggling Fela running from one to the other, trying to
> break free. The humor of the intent and heavily focused drummer increases
> the intensity of the ordeal.
>
> It is with some measure of relief that we watch the thin curtains rise,
> allowing Fela to enter a larger space which is not free from great perils.
>
> So much drama unfolds in Part I, that the audience, already fulfilled,
> would be hard pressed to believe that Part II could offer more.  It does.
> After intermission, Fela's direct address to the audience,"So you decided to
> come back?" makes us laugh.  And then we enjoy new discoveries.  We see the
> maternal energies continued in the African American lover, Sandra, whom we
> first saw wearing red and black (colors of Eshu, guardian of the
> crossroads), then later in Act II,  wearing blue, colors of Yemaya,
> associated with Fela's mother.
>
> Humor, sign of higher intelligence, provides the underlying energy for 80%
> of the musical even in some of the most somber moments. Before his torture
> (and the audience is visibly distressed), Fela comes out wearing the coat
> and cap of a military officer, and for the moment, the incongruity makes the
> audience laugh. But not for long. This does not  detract from the brutal
> beatings which hospitalized Fela for 17 days.  Everyone needs to hear the
> lament pouring from the body of the tortured Fela (played by another actor,
> Ismael Kouyate). The theater falls quiet under the weight of this terrible
> beauty.  The same voice that earlier sang James Brown's "I got the feeling"
> with an irrepressible energy, and  left the audience in rollicking laughter,
> now chants in long melodious anguish through unbearable pain.   This is one
> of many highly imagined  moments where truth is not compromised by humor,
> this humor which is the twin to truth. This is a critical teaching moment
> demonstrating how to effectively dramatize  violence without abusing both
> narrator and audience.
>
> The author trusted us to recognize the intersection of beauty and terror in
> this moment and in many others throughout Fela!.
> As for numbers? When Fela first enters the stage he is escorted by four
> dancers. The African American lover, Sandra Isadore, descends the ladder
> accompanied by four attendants. When Fela is to climb the ladder,  this
> physical effort is accompanied by four members of the ensemble pointing up.
> We find a similar attention to the number four, representing totality, the
> cardinal points and representing the superlative in Chinua Achebe's Things
> Fall Apart. The nine wives of Fela on stage represent well the twenty-seven
> (two plus seven equals nine) wives that he married in real life.  Numbers
> are used in a most ominous way especially the day Funmilayo died.  The time
> was given in silence, with only a single chime sounding; 5:45 she was
> dragged up the stairs.  5:47 she was thrown from the window. Earlier, in Act
> I, the "clock game" generated life.  Cultural understanding of numbers
> provides useful insights in literary interpretation.
>
> This musical celebrating the life of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, delivers a vision
> which connects history and the contemporary moment. The more I see this fine
> work of art, the more I uncover layers of brilliance.
>
> Summer 2009, in Nigeria, I overheard a customs agent ask a young Russian,
> "Why have you come to Nigeria?"
> The young man's firm answer,"Off shore-drilling," burned in my ears. It
> sounded like, "To violate your mother." At the time I did not know that only
> a few months, the violation of off-shore drilling would reach American soil.
> *Lines from Fela!:
> "Like rat we steal
> Make a hole
> Oil flow"*
> "Ax Falls on British Petroleum,"an old Nigerian headline almost feels
> uncanny  as the past looks into the present day.
>
> In this Broadway production, the audience is physically surrounded by
> history. Every wall of the theater is filled with sculptures, portraits, and
> cinematic images of actual newspaper headlines: Majority Live in Poverty;
> Soldiers Advised to Exercise Restraint with Public, Stern Warnings to
> Students; Army Retakes University, 35 Students Dead. There are images of
> Angela Davis, Malcolm and Martin shelf, including The Dead Lecturer by Leroi
> Jones (Amiri Baraka). The new Black Studies programs of the 1960's and The
> Black Arts Movement are brought to life in this inspiring narrative.
>
> Even without a story, Fela! would be worth its weight in gold.
>
> The innovative, fast shaking dance, the cosmic colors, and the songs all
> speak a universal language. The musicians alone would make the production
> more than phenomenal.  But the education delivered with the entertainment
> makes this production, Fela! priceless.
>
> *"Speaking Truth To Empower."*
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
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