A subtle solo and fusion music with finesse

"The Awakening" contains the story of a blind man searching for his roots

The visitors wore their traditional "kurtas" and the Bengali "lungi" at times, while the audience joined in the sing-along with rapture and unmitigated glee. The non-stop hour-long solo acting in English that unfolded adventure, experience, folk-lore and fairytale, before that, was also breathtaking, leaving the audience surfeit with pleasure. Viewers ranging from seven to seventy sang and clapped gustily when called for. It is not often when one can easily measure the viewers' participation and pleasure. There was no tea or cookies to persuade on the audience to stay on, but they did so for over two hours with a brief interlude in between. The programme was to promote cultural diversity, to combine African technique, style and form with Bangladeshi ones. It was definitely avant-garde and positive.

Issaka Sawadogo, the main performer, and artistic director of Carrefour International Theatre de Ouagadougou (CITO), Burkina Faso, supported by NORAD, has learnt on the job, not having been to any theatre school back in Africa. He believes that in country the family and the street are the nurturing grounds for music and acting. He has been performing for 17 years, visiting different African countries like Niger, the Ivory Coast, and European countries like Norway, France and Belgium, as well as USA.

He says, " Our group consists of Toa Emmanuel ( who played the harp) , a dancer and choreographer, and Flatie Dambell. In our country we learn to dance since childhood. As for the play that I presented, it was written by me: it is a combination of stories that I had collected over the years."

"The Awakening" contained the story of a blind man who is searching for his roots. Through magical powers the protagonist is able to take on the shapes of different persons and in doing this he gives stories from Africa , which is full of myths, legends and fairytales. In this manner we meet a blacksmith making jewelleries and weapons and a farmer living in harmony with nature , watering and harvesting, as the seasons change. The anecdote of the "kalabash"(drinking cup) brings in the crafty philosophies of Africa. The performance combine irony with seriousness, mixing music with dancing and song. The play has three different versions: in English, French and Norwegian.

"I came across Nilu Kamaluddin in Norway, at the National Theatre, for which I've been working for nine years. The other two members were musicians I'd met up with back home, in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The group decided on the tunes and songs, having rehearsed for the programme for two weeks in Africa. Sawadogo said that the CAT members , while listening to them rehearse in Dhaka, wanted to join in too and so the fusion followed. The West African group felt that it would be interesting indeed to have Bangladeshi music as accompaniment to the Burkina music," Sawadogo says, " We have the same rhythm in our hearts and minds: it was easy to work around the Bangladeshi percussion instruments with our type of songs and music full of joie de vivre." This, he said, was his second trip to Bangladesh, as he had come before, during the Ibsen Festival organized by CAT, in November last year.

Asked to give his impression of Bangladesh, Sawadogo says, "I was overwhelmed by the vast population. I believe that when you want to learn about a culture, you have to know about the people. I was curious about the economy and political situation and some outspoken intellectuals informed me about the problems that you are facing and I found all this information mind-expanding."

Margaret Aaby from NORAD, who was the producers of the performances that evening, sums up the performance by saying, " We are mainly here to present an African fairytale story, and while we are here, we want to present some parts of West African culture. The one-man performance is about ancient African roots while in the concert is used the traditional instruments like the 'chora'. All the three African performers are well-known" grios" or musicians who learn their art from their elders in the family, in their own country and in France. Sawadago, however, is also trained in Norway."