7 Day (West-)Afr​ican theatre festival in Cologne, Germany (June 22.-28, 2011 )

The first africologne-FESTIVAL of the modern (west-)African theatre takes place June 22.-28., 2011 in Cologne (Germany) in the Theater im Bauturm as well as the „Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum – The House of World Cultures“.

The Festival will present in thirteen shows (including one for Schools) seven theatre productions: two European premiers, four plays never performed in a German speaking country before and one Cologne-Premier!

Our goal is to provide audiences with a wide view on the extensive culture of (west-) Africa, which is presented aesthetically courageous whilst still being traditional and critical in its reflection. We aim to continue the intercultural exchange with Artists through the invited performances, which also will be followed by discussions with the artists and finally with our one-day conference “Entwicklung heißt sich entwickeln”-Development implies to develop.

We are interested in the collective of a global society; in breaking through the present realities and social developments, which cannot be viewed as individual developments, but have to be seen under universal aspects that are cross-continental. The performances will be in French and Mooré (language of Burkina Faso) and will be subtitled in German.

Additional to our extensive program, audiences are invited to attend to three staged readings and a guided tour at the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum. Additional performance spaces are provided by the opposite Millowitsch- Theatre as well as public performance spaces, which will be used by Futur3, who will prepare one of the staged readings- venue will be announced by June 6.

PROGRAM

Weds.22.6.
18h Festive Opening of the Festival

20h European-Premier Ziitba ou La Situation - Ziitba or Die Situation by Sidiki Yougbaré (Burkina Faso). Directed by Sidiki Yougbaré.
Following africologne-Opening Party with Buffet

Thurs.23.6.
18h Ziitba ou La Situation - Ziitba oder Die Situation (see 22.6.)

21h Staged Reading Condor Unlimited by P. De Buysser Directed by Gerhard Roiß

Fri.24.6.
18h Germany-Premier L’Echo du pas de l’homme - Das Echo des Schritts des Menschen (Senegal/ France/Morocco) based on the novel Timbuktu, 52 Days on a camels back by Ahmed Ghazali Directed by Christophe Merle

21h Staged Reading Papa muss essen by Marie NDiaye Directed by Luzius Heydrich

Sat.25.6.
15.30h & 18.30h Germany-Premier Le Musée Bombana de Kokologo – Das Museum Bombana de Kokologo by Pascal Rome (Burkina Faso) Directed by Pascal Rome. At the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum – Cultures of the World, Cäcilienstraße 29-33, Köln

18h Germany-Premier Fatma by M'Hamed Benguettaf (Senegal/France) Directed by Christophe Merle

20 h Germany-Premier Le coeur des enfants léopards - Das Herz der Leopardenkinder. Adaptation by Dieudonné & Criss Niangouna, based on the novel by Wilfried N’Sondé (Kongo) Directed by Dieudonné Niangouna.
Following discussion with the author Wilfried N’Sondé. At the Millowitsch-Theater, Aachener Str. 5, Köln.

22h africologne-Party

Sun.26.6.
13h Ferne Welten – Ein Kurztrip: Guided tour through the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum – Cultures of the World, Cäcilienstraße 29-33, Köln. Event organized by the Theaterschwärmer (young supporters of the Theater im Bauturm)

14h Conference „Entwicklung heißt sich entwickeln“ (Development means to develop) Chair: Rolf Hemke (Theater an der Ruhr)

15.30h & 18.30 Le Musée Bombana de Kokologo – Das Museum Bombana de Kokologo (see 25.6.)

20h European-Premier Incessants – Unaufhörlich by Guy Junior Régis (Haïti). Directed by Patrick Joseph

Mon.27.6.
19h Incessants – Unaufhörlich (see 26.6.)
19h+21h Staged Reading Kassandra oder die Welt als Ende der Vorstellung by Kevin Rittberger Directed by André Erlen, Stefan H. Kraft / Futur3 (Venue will be announced June 6; for further information please contact 0221-524242)

Tues.28.6.
14h+19h Cologne-Premier A la vie à la mort - Auf Leben und Tod by Etienne Minoungou (Burkina Faso). Directed by Etienne Minoungou and Hamado Tiemtore

Begin 21h africologne-Closing Party

Africologne-FESTIVAL
22. - 28. June 2011
THEATER IM BAUTURM
Freies Schauspiel KÖLN
Aachener Straße 24-26
50674 Köln (Cologne), Germany
Tel.: (0221) 95 14 43-1
www.theater-im-bauturm.de

Concept Gerhardt Haag, Kerstin Ortmeier
Artistic Director Gerhardt Haag
Project Management/ Dramaturg Kerstin Ortmeier

Management Lisa Kihm-Dolmaire
Technical Director Thomas Mörl Technical Heiko Bujak, Hans-Dieter Streib, Gilbert Vyent
Public Relations Angela Krumpholz
Communication Sarah Youssef, Carsten Karbach
Secretariat Helene Quatmann Assistants/Interns Eva Altmeyer, Maximilian Liesner
French Translations/ Subtitles Marie-Claude Steinbrück
Box Office Oliver Buchal Props Stephan Geyer

Festival blog at africologne.blogspot.com

Kwame Kwei-Armah on multicultural Britain

Black British actor, playwright and director Kwame Kwei Armah is featured by the British Foreign Office to mark two years to go until London 2012.

In a film Kwame Kwei-Armah discusses why he believes the UK is now the centre of the Black diaspora world and how it’s a country of diverse cultures.

The film is one of the ‘See Britain through my eyes,’ series featuring individuals from home and abroad talking about their experiences of modern Britain in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Watch the film below.



In the film Kwame talks about a television series he presented for Channel 4 in 2009, where he re-created the Queen’s 1953/54 tour of the Commonwealth. Kwame discovered that many people across the Commonwealth still thought that the makeup of British society was much like it was in the 1950s as opposed to the diverse, modern nation it is today. Kwame was glad he was chosen to front the programme as he was able to personally vouch for the UK’s multiculturalism.

Kwame also discusses how proud he is of the progress Britain has made in reducing inequality in society. He thinks Britain today is a tolerant country, comfortable in its own skin, where tradition and modernity can co-exist.

Kwame Kwei-Armah is a celebrated actor, playwright and director both in the UK and overseas. He recently served as Artistic Director of the World festival of black arts and culture in Senegal and has just been appointed Artistic Director of Centerstage Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland.

He was born in London as Ian Roberts. He changed his name in his early twenties after tracing his family history (through the slave trade) to his ancestral roots in Ghana. His parents were born in Grenada, then a British colony and moved to the UK in the 1960s.

The film launch coincides with the thirtieth anniversary of the Tricycle Theatre in London where Kwame has staged many of his productions. The theatre has a strong reputation for hosting plays that reflect the cultural diversity of Britain and not afraid to tackle contemporary issues and events head on.

Kwame first found fame as an actor in the popular BBC hospital drama ‘Casualty.’ He became the first Black Briton to stage a play in London’s West End when his award winning piece ‘Elmina’s Kitchen transferred to the Garrick Theatre in 2005.’

Kwame Kwei-Armah is a celebrated British actor, playwright and director both in the UK and overseas. He recently served as Artistic Director of the World festival of black arts and culture in Senegal and has just been appointed Artistic Director of Centerstage Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland.

Theatre: "Once upon A Time in the 90s" - 26– 27 May 2011 in London

A compelling story following seven young people on a journey of self discovery.

A musical theatre production set in the 90's exploring the social issues that have affected the world across the years; although many of these issues are still present in society they are often seen as taboo and not spoken about.

Each of the characters is representative of a different era ranging from the 50's right up until the 90's. This piece makes political and social comment presenting comedic humour, song and dance and will be an entertaining experience to all spectators.

Featuring special guest performer AKALA (UK recording artist).



26TH – 27TH May 2011: The Albany Theatre Deptford, London, SE8 4AG. For more information www.thealbany.org.uk

Surinamese-Dutch writer Clark Accord has died (50)

Via RNW: Surinamese-Dutch writer Clark Accord passed away in an Amsterdam hospital on Wednesday evening 11 May after losing his fight against cancer. He was 50 years old.

Clark Accord lived in Amsterdam, but his work always contained the tropical flavour of the Caribbean. Born in Paramaribo in 1961, he moved to the Netherlands when he was 17 years old. After finishing high school in Amsterdam, he first trained and worked as a nurse. He went back to school to follow a new career as make-up artist, which led to successful work in Vienna, Zurich and Vancouver - as well as stints in fashion centres such as Milan, New York, London and Paris.

Mr Accord said he began writing because he couldn't find the kind of books he himself liked to read. For his first novel, he decided to research a legendary figure in Surinam's 20th century history: Wilhemina Angelica Adriana Merian Rijburg (1902-1981). Better known as Maxi Linder, she was the country's most famous prostitute.

Queen of Paramaribo
Approaching the story like a journalist, Clark Accord interviewed her friends and associates to discover the truth behind the gossip and myths surrounding the glamorous woman. "In Maxi Linder we find good and evil," said Mr Accord, "and that is the story I wanted to write."

The musical 'De koningin van Paramaribo' (The Queen of Paramaribo) with Sarina Vroon as Maxi Linder (The Queen of Paramaribo



"Betsy had almost reached the entrance when Maxi Linder, accompanied by two naval officers, cut in front of her. Maxi spit demonstratively on the sand and rolled her eyes in Betsy's direction. She was covered from head to toe in gold jewellery. Too bad it clashed with the tacky dress she had on. What's more, her hair had been swept up in a ridiculous roll on top of her head, and she wasn't wearing a bit of make-up. Since Maxi Linder and her party were blocking the doorway, Betsy had no choice but to wait. With Maxi on the scene, the public had lost all interest in Betsy."

'De koningin van Paramaribo' (The Queen of Paramaribo) became a best seller in The Netherlands with some 100,000 copies in print. The book has been translated into several languages and a movie version is planned.

For Radio Books, Clard Accord wrote a day-in-the life story, you can listen to it at Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Clark Accord also was a columnist for the Dutch newspaper Het Parool. In his columns he wrote about social issues, politics and about the black community. And together with Anousha Nzume he presented the talkshow "LET'S TALK BLACK!" where he talked about black issues.

An interview with artistic director Anousha Nzume about the musical theatre version of the book and two performances.


There is so much more to say about him. I am going to miss him. Rest in peace Clark and thanks for everything.

"A Nos Morts" - A Hip Hop play about the forgotten soldiers of France

"A Nos Morts" is a French Hip Hop musical about the forgotten liberators of France who fought in World War I and II. The musical was performed in September in Koln (Germany).

Influenced by the Hip-Hop-Culture of the suburbs of Strasbourg, this performance melts poetic texts with urban sounds as well as with a contemporary dance choreography - all this is taking place to the backdrop of historical film and photo material. The production is reminiscent of hundreds of thousands colonial soldiers from the former French colonies who fought for France in 1914-18 and 1939-1945 and contributed to the victory of France



According to the creators the history of the forgotten soldiers is also relevant today. “Faced with the rise of intolerance and discrimination, it is important for the new generations to know that diversity was also in the ranks of those who liberated France. The transmission of these memories participates in the construction of a collective history necessary to bring communities together and recognizing each other.”

"A Nos Morts" is also a monument in Strasbourg (France) which was raised in 1936 in memory of the children who died during World War I.

See more information at www.cie-memoires-vives.org

Also see French black soldiers excluded in ‘whites only’ liberation of Paris

Jenny Alpha, an icon of French Caribbean culture dies at 100

Martinican actress and singer Jenny Alpha (1910-2010), a leading exponent of Creole culture, died Wednesday, September 8, at the age of 100.

Her fight for recognition of Creole culture and her incredible talent as an actress and singer were celebrated with a Honour Trophy award on September 21, 2009 at the 4th Awards of the French “Trophées des Arts Afro-Caribéens”.

An icon of Martinique has gone to join her old friends, Duke Ellington, Aime Cesaire, Josephine Baker, and many others.

The blog Repeating Islands wrote: The announcement of her death has prompted many reactions in France and overseas. Overseas Minister Marie-Luce Penchard praised the “exceptional and talented woman” that Jenny Alpha has been; ministerial delegate



Patrick Karam recalled the “talent and elegance of one of the greatest overseas artists of the 20th century.” Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë, traveling to the Caribbean, paid tribute to “a pioneer of the arts” who “made her life a struggle for black women to have their full rights.”

Jean-François Lamour and Philippe Goujon, deputies from the 15th arrondissement, where the actress lived, expressed that she “embodied with panache the richness of French cultural life of the 20th century, at the crossroads of multiple influences.” And President of the General Council of Martinique Claude Lise praised “the exceptional trajectory of an artist of outstanding standards” with a “talent that overcame all difficulties and all prejudices.” Read more here

A child of the diaspora has died. Jenny Alpha, rest in peace.

Staged Reading: The Most Unsatisfied Town - A play based on the Oury Jalloh Case (Germany)

H/t Tina Bach
The following video has been produced by Thabo Thindi, of http://jozi.tv about the staged reading of Amy Evan's play "The most unsatisfied Town", premiered on Tuesday, 27 April 2010 at the Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICI). The play is based on the widely mediatised case of the Sierra Leonean refugee Oury Jalloh who burned to death while shackled to the floor of a Dessau (Germany) jail cell. (Source: Africavenir)

Theatre: HUID! (SKIN!) – “ We are not black, we are brown” (Netherlands)

HUID! (SKIN!) is the title of the latest play of Dutch Antillean director/actor Raymi Sambo.

Premiere on Saterday October 2nd 2010 in Theater aan het Spui, The Hague (Netherlands), 8.30 pm.

It’s a play about discrimination (or Colourism) among Antilleans. Because what if you don’t have the good nose, the good hair and if you have not inherited the lightest skin colour of the family? SKIN! is also about the universal quest of what's beneath your skin. Who you are regardless of your colour, origin and gender. But, how do you address the issue?

“ We are not black, we are brown”



Synopsis: On his twenty-first birthday Steve, the loved one of a Dutch Antillean family, rebels against the norms of the family. For his dominating mother black is equal to weak, lazy, poor, ugly and aggressive. Steve no longer wants to deny his colour and background. He invites, as a surprise, a guest for the traditional family dinner on his birthday. Thus forcing all his family members to show their colours. His action unleashes more emotions than he had imagined.

HUID! With Raymi Sambo, Everon Jackson Hooi, John Serkei, Urmie Plein, Jaike Belfor, and Naomi Mac-Donald

More information: www.mojotheater.nl/

I must admit that in my Creole family skin colour and “good” hair is hardly debated. Maybe I will drop the bomb at my family diner next time, and ask some family members: “How does it feel to be light-skinned? And drop the we-are-all-from-Africa nonsense.”

Black German theatre group serves up snapshots of German racism

From Der Schwarze Blog:
The German Theatre ensemble Label Noir will peform the play “Heimat, bittersüße Heimat” ("Homeland, Bittersweet Homeland") on 4-6 June in the Hoftheater in Berlin.

A theater group is challenging Germany's assumptions about race, culture and identity with a courageous new production that sheds light on the black German experience of everyday racism.

"My, but you speak excellent German - flawless grammar, perfect accent. Keep up the good work!"

The elderly lady with a prim hat and pursed lips tries to compliment the young black woman sitting on the park bench beside her, but her praise backfires when it's obvious that she can hardly grasp the notion that a person of color can be German at the same time.

This scene is one of a dizzying array of sketches that combine humor and poignant realism to mirror part of the black/Afro-German experience with unsettling clarity.

"Heimat, bittersuesse Heimat" - which translates to "Homeland, Bittersweet Homeland" - blends scenes of daily life with satirical theater. The actors play themselves as well as their white fellow citizens, whose well-meaning questions and remarks often come across as ignorant, invasive and presumptuous.

Audience reactions to the racist gaffes on stage ranged from hushed embarrassment to howls of laughter.

"If you have black friends, they're just laughing," said Vanessa Rottenburg, who plays the Afro-German in the park bench scene, "because their reaction is: 'Oh yeah, I know that grandma.'" Read the full story of the Deutsch Welle here

So more info
www.amadeu-antonio.de

Hip Hop theatre "Markus The Sadist" with Bashy (London)

British grime star Bashy in the theatre production Markus The Sadist, from 17th-20th May (8pm) at The Bloomsbury theatre in London.

Story: Markus Wright just wants to be an emcee and will sacrifice his true voice for that dream contract... Rap, grime and jazz collide in explosive fashion in an original Hip Hop theatre production exposing the darker side of the music industry and celebrity culture, created and directed by Jonzi D (Breakin' Convention). Starring top UK emcee/actor Bashy as Markus, new music by Soweto Kinch alongside a cast of critically acclaimed artists from the UK urban music and Hip Hop theatre scenes.



http://www.markusthesadist.com

Theatre: "Off the Endz" - London

From left to right: Daniel Francis, Lorraine Burroughs, Ashley Walters
Off the Endz is a new play by Olivier award winning writer Bola Agbaje, featuring Ashley Walters (BBC1’s Small Island, ex-So Solid Crew). Royal Court Theatre, 11 Feb - 13 Mar in London.

"My future is here. My aim is clear and simple. I want out. I wanna be rich. I'm not gonna pretend it's anything more than that and I want it now."

David (Ashley Walters), Kojo (Daniel Francis) and Sharon (Lorraine Burroughs) grew up on a London estate. Now in their mid 20s, they're eyeing another kind of life. But how do you choose the right path when temptation lies around every corner? If your emotional or financial debt is sky high, how do you buy your way out?



Bola Agbaje's smart, savvy second play for the Royal Court asks whether being out of the system might be just as good as being in it.

Bola Agbaje came through the Royal Court's Critical Mass programme. Her debut play Gone Too Far! premiered at the Royal Court in 2007, and won an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement and a Most Promising Playwright nomination at the Evening Standard Awards 2008. Her other plays include If Things Were Different, In Time and Anything You Can Do for Soho Theatre. Most recently Detaining Justice opened as part of the Not Black and White season at the Tricycle in November.

Royal Court Theatre

Theatre: The Hounding of David Oluwale - Trailer (UK)

Because it's still black history month, an old theatre trailer of "The Hounding of David Oluwale", with Daniel Francis as the main character.

The play was an adaptation of Kester Aspden's award-winning book, the Hounding of David Oluwale. It tells the story of the Nigerian immigrant Oluwale, who was found dead in the river Aire in 1969, having been assaulted over a number of months by police officers.

About Oluwale The Guardian wrote the following story.

Oluwale was educated in the late autumn of colonial rule, a Christian grammar school education filling him with notions of the benevolent, civilising nature of British power.

It was natural for young men in the Nigerian port city to look outwards and imagine the world beyond; in the postwar years, there were many reasons to wish for an escape - food shortages, soaring prices, high unemployment. Nineteen-year-old Oluwale, struggling as an apprentice tailor, was one of a couple of hundred Nigerians in those difficult years who buried themselves in obscure corners of cargo ships for the gruelling two-week voyage to Britain. ....

On May 4 1969, the body of David Oluwale was discovered face-down in the river Aire, close to Leeds' main sewage works. The coroner recorded a verdict of death by drowning. The loose change found on Oluwale's body was put towards a flimsy coffin and a pauper's funeral. The funeral directors were having a clearout and packed old telephone directories around the corpse. His body was committed to a common grave that contained nine others.

Eighteen months later, this unmourned Nigerian was at the centre of a criminal investigation that shook and shamed a city. His body was exhumed on an icy morning in December 1970 following accusations that two Leeds city police officers had hounded him to his death. At the trial a year later, a long campaign of abuse emerged. Others had simply stood by and let it happen. Even in death, Oluwale was accorded little dignity. The defence counsel likened him to a panther. To the judge, he was a "dirty, filthy, violent vagrant". Read the whole story in Legacy of hate

And: Ghostly lessons of a lonely death

Theatre: Causerie imaginée (Imagined chat) - a Negritude conversation

Causerie imaginée (Imagined chat) - an imagined conversation based on the work of Césaire, Damas and Senghor performed by Jean-Michel Martial and Nathaly Coualy.

Sunday February 28th in Paris in theatre Les Feux de la Rampe (last show in France).

He is a man, she is a woman and there were three poets, three singers of the Negritude, three monuments: Césaire, Damas and Senghor. Notebook of a return home, a lecture on colonialism ... poetic texts and politics presented as monologues, sometimes as a conversation. A "Causerie imaginée" interpreted by Jean-Michel Martial and Nathaly Coualy.



Jean-Michel Martial is a French actor and Nathaly Coualy is a French actor/comedian, it’s there first performance together.

"It's been several years since I read these texts in public," says Jean-Michel Martial. "This time I wanted to add the desire and emotion of this person I do not know. The frame was already more or less decided, but Nathaly did things I never expected"

"We found that these texts are answers", says Nathaly Coualy.
Read a review (French) here

Interesting theatre, the show will also be performed in the Caribbean.

And because black history month is coming to an end on February 28th, some links:
Aimé Césaire
Leon-Gontran Damas
Léopold Sédar Senghor

Causerie imaginée
Sunday 28 February at 17h
Aat theatre Les Feux de la Rampe
2, rue Saulnier Paris 9e
01 42 46 26 19
lesfeuxdelarampe@gmail.com
http://www.billetreduc.com/35062/evt.htm

Queendom: "Home is where the heart is" (Norway)

The Norwegian group Queendom is an Oslo based theatre group of five black women with backgrounds from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda, Trinidad and Gambia. All the members of the group are professional theatre artists

Queendom came to the attention of the Norwegian public in 1999 after the premiere of the cabaret 'Queendom On The Rocks- the world seen through the eys of five Black women'. Since then Queendom has produced another two comedy shows, a satirical book, a TV mini-series and continues to compose new, inspiring music .



Queendom now tours and performs extensively as a popular world music band, around Norway and abroad. They have performed at numerous events hosted by commercial companies, festivals, state institutions and NGO's.

Audiences include several Nobel Peace Prize laureates, ministers and members of the Norwegian royal family - as well as ordinary people of all ethnic backgrounds.

Queendom - "Home is where the heart is". Filmed in Bagamoyo, Tanzania August 2009 as part of TV-Aksjonen for NRK (Norway).

Offical website Queendom.

HOPE – Obama musical story – celebrates its world premiere in Frankfurt/Main on 17 January 2010!

Photo: Michelle and Barack Obama
The venue Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt (Germany) will experience a sound it has never heard before: formed to a huge percussion ensemble, the audience accompanies US president Barack Obama on his successful way into the White House. The event organizer MOVE GmbH promises a double world premiere: at the premiere of "HOPE – the Obama Musical Story" on Sunday, 17 January at 8:00 pm, the audience will rhythmically participate on specially developed percussion chairs - for the first time ever worldwide. "Hope is the first interactive musical of a new generation", says musical producer Roberto Emmanuele, CEO and creative director of Move GmbH based in Bad Soden. "This is an enormous sound and a great musical experience for the audience."



Link
Offical site musical Hope

“Darfur Plays” - Using Theatre To Build Bridges

Spotted on: Shadow and Act

A very inspiring documentary of a group of self-taught young actors in Dafur. They perform in the streets of their village and in the neighbouring refugee camp.

As someone from the 'West', Dafur is about war, human rights violation and ethnic cleansing. Dafur is chaos. It’s a place where Arabs are killing black people like sheep. It’s like a black planet without an ozone layer. So far my European view.

But in this documentary I saw artists who perform for their people, who spark the dialog and reach out to people who are perceived to be ‘the others’. So yes people also “live” there. They think about the future and make theatre plays. I saw artistic director Haythum Djalladien taking a cab in Darfur. (Small observation: the cab looked very new.)

There is still a war going on there! And it’s filthy. But it's also good to see change at work in Darfur.

Most interesting quote: Money runs out but ideas last.

Part 1


Part 2

Not Black and White: Three black London Theatre makers

An interesting story about three black theatre makers in London. Kwame Kwei-Armah(left) wrote the play 'Seize The Day'.

Artistic director Nicolas Kent describes the Tricycle Theatre's new trilogy, Not Black and White, as a “stock-take” of multicultural Britain.

He gave three writers — Roy Williams (right), Kwame Kwei-Armah (left) and Bola Agbaje (middle), all London-based — free rein to choose their themes; respectively, the prison service, politics and immigration.

“Here we are in a culturally diverse capital and yet we seem to have very few black people involved in the governance of it; there's a power deficit for black and Asian people,” Kent says. “This seemed a good time to do an audit of cosmopolitan London and British society and I thought it would be good to take three leading black playwrights to open up the debate. Kwame and Roy [who are both in their early forties] are probably the two most senior black writers today and Bola [28] is a very interesting new voice.

“I think people like big ideas and these are three writers at the top of their game. What they don't do is reference white society, or place black people in relation to it, and certainly not in an oppositional way, as so many black writers feel they have to. They are much more about black people's relationships with each other. We're looking at things in a more mature way — at the shifts in society that move us away from simple black/white debates.”

Under Kent, for the past 25 years, the small but influential Tricycle in Kilburn has not only altered the landscape of British theatre but has also helped change how the Establishment operates. The theatre has pioneered verbatim work with its tribunal plays about enquiries into events such as Bloody Sunday, arms sales to Iraq and the Srebrenica massacre. Their Stephen Lawrence drama, The Colour of Justice (1999), is now used by a number of British police forces to educate officers about institutionalised racism. Read the full story here

THEATRE: Seize The Day by Kwame Kwei-Armah - London

“The symbolism of having a Black mayor! A city of 45% colour, should have a mayor of colour don’t you think?”

Jeremy Charles has got the face to represent it – a well-spoken, good-looking Londoner, with an appetite for change: yes he can! He’s sold his pitch on reality TV, but can he be the real people’s candidate?

Kwame Kwei-Armah has had a great idea for a play: the pressures on an African-Caribbean contender for the office of London's mayor. And, as the second show in the Tricycle's Not Black and White season, it goes down a storm with its audience and raises a host of issues: too many, in fact, for a play that basically offers a plausible portrait of metropolitan realpolitik.

Seize the Day Tricycle, London Until 19 December.

For more information: The Tricycle

Musical Tismee with Aurélie Konaté (France)

The musical Tismee, Sept 18th till Nov 11th 2009 in Theatre de la Reine Blanche in Paris

The musical Tismee is a musical about ordinary racism. It’s about words and telling jokes that are not often considered evil, but can hurt. It’s about bias, prejudice and the colour of one's skin. It’s about living in two cultures, at a time when more and more people carry two cultures and two lives in them: one where they are, the other where they come from. It’s about the difficult duality where the solitude of exile and feelings of rejection regularly overwhelms.

Sounds very dramatic, but with this line up no tears will be shed.

With Aurélie Konaté – Singer, dancer and comedian
Félix Sabal Lecco – Singer, musician and comedian
Khalil Maouene – Singer, musician and comedian

Official Myspace website Tismee

Official theme song Tismee "Je Pars Seule"

Passing Strange: a black American in Europe

Passing Strange is a musical which has stopped in 2008. It was an award winning musical on Broadway about a black American in Europe. Spike Lee filmed the last two production. The news is, he finished it recently and showed to a selected audience on Saturday May 2de.

But what's so special about a story about a middle class black American who travels to Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin in search of his identity and soon discovers he starts to play to the stereotypes he's trying to escape? The negro problem, according to director of the story.

It’s the experience of a black American in Europe what makes this play interesting. Since Amsterdam is yelled several times in the play,I was wondering – as a black Amsterdam native - what the director and star of the show had learned in Amsterdam. His name is ‘Stew’ by the way. Of course there are ‘Coffee shops’ in Amsterdam where you can buy Lebanon. But I don’t consider that a big deal. He also mentioned the experience of black American artist like Richard Wright, James Baldwin and Josephine baker, they are typical examples of black Americans expats in Europe. But the sad news is I didn’t found what Stew had really learned from his trip to Europe.

But in an interview he made some interesting remarks about what he called the black American expat myth. Like most black Americans he grew up with that myth. “The American expat myth was that you where accepted more as human being and maybe not as a race. Most of that was true. But the problem with the expatriate myth was that you had a lot of people who where going to Europe though that everything was going to be fine and great, but found out that racism is everywhere. And that are people who trying to put you in a box everywhere.“

But I think his statement is universal. Black Europeans are also being put in box when to go the USA. Oui, je suis de Hollande!



The interview with Stew about the play and his personal life.