I am just motivated to post about this fantastic event I went to last night! About two weeks ago I met a Canadian girl who used to live in my neighbourhood and she told me about this cool little theater nearby that does ‘African storytelling’ on the last Wednesday of the month for free, for the community. She gave me the contact information for one of the ‘conteurs’ that she met there (storytellers).
I met Jean-Claude a couple of times and he told me that although he doesn’t perform so much at that theater anymore, he would this time before he heads back to Togo (where he is from) for some work he has to do there.
I had no idea what to expect, having only been to the theater once during the day and just seeing it quickly for a few minutes. Essentially it is a big lot with a couple of buildings on it and its resident theater troop uses the space to rehearse and host some events I believe.
I went with Antoine and Angèle…two Burkinabe friends I’ve met through Sarah… Angèle left before it really began so Antoine and I were left behind for the adventure!!
Essentially it is a very community event with mostly young people (from ages 5 to maybe 18). There weren’t too many people when we got there but by the time we left the place was pretty packed. There isn’t much sitting room (a couple of benches) but all the kids were sprawled on mats on the floor and the slightly older kids standing around. It was fantastic!! There were about 8 different storytellers who took turns on the stage.
It began with two young boys actually, who I guess have been training with one of the storytellers. They were super cute and nobody really listened. The one boy was so nervous!! The one thing about society here which can be hard to get used to is how direct (blunt) people are. So people were making fun of him out loud and everyone was laughing…but he was laughing along too. It is all just for fun. So while I was thinking how horribly mean it was and probably on some pedagogical level really terrible (pretty sure mocking students is not such an acceptable tactic in teachers college back home!)… I had to remember that it is not really my place to judge and, in reality, that kid was fine! And he pushed through and told his story despite it all.
So the adult storytellers ranged from really good to really really good and mostly spoke in French, so I got to understand most of it. They use their body language, interacting with the audience, singing, instruments, voices to tell their story and usually there is a moral of some sorts. Like most fables/stories you sometimes have to stretch a little to understand the moral. After a long story about a guy who goes on a trip to a village and gets in a fight with a tortoise…the moral is… he brought it on himself…or something! ?!?!?!?!? But regardless the best part is the story getting there.
There were even some pretty lewd sexual inuendos that the crowd just loved (and I was pretty shocked to hear) such as the story of when ‘mouth’ died and none of the other body parts (nose, eyes, ears, head, feet, stomach) wanted to participate in burying him because he always got them in trouble when they smelt/saw/heard something or made them carry/digest things they didn’t want to! Except “dj antoine and his two ‘friends’” who always benefitted from mouth when he picked up girls… ummm don’t ask me what the moral was in this story?!?!? Or how it was audience appropriate! Haha
But bottom-line is that it was a fantastic event with the audience laughing and interacting. I can’t wait to go back in October! Antoine even had a really great time, although I know that both him and Angèle were very skeptical when we first got there and there were 5 people and two benches set up :)
One of the storytellers with his homemade guitar of scrap cans!
He was one of the better ones! Had fantastic laughter!
Only one woman performed and she was really great! Almost better then the men just because she was challenging the men in their usual roles!
The captive audience!
This is my friend Jean-Claude!
This was a little sweetheart who came to sit on my lap! She didn't talk and barely smiled...but also refused to leave my lap :) I think she was caught between awe and fear! My whiteness is pretty terrifying!
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