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AfriCan Theatre Ensemble, 24 Ryerson Avenue, Suite 202, Toronto ON M5T 2P3 We gratefully acknowledge the support of our Sponsors Donors Supporters through Advertising in the Program and in kind AfriCan Theatre Ensemble Founded in August 1998 by Artistic Director Modupe Olaogun, AfriCan Theatre Ensemble, ATE, made its stage debut in 1999 with the Canadian premiere of Ola Rotimi’s The Gods Are Not To Blame, a Nigerian adaptation of Oedipus. ATE began in recognition of an influx of talented artists and performers from the African continent to Canada. It was created as a vehicle for this creative energy to make its contribution to the Canadian theatre and art scene. The organization is vitally interested in building connections between artists recently arrived from Africa, Canadians of African descent, and Canadian artists of all backgrounds. One of its most important purposes is to reveal the range of African cultures and performance styles, countering the myth of a single homogeneous black experience. . The Ensemble’s purpose is to bring the major works of African playwrights to Canadian audiences, drawing on skilled theatre practitioners, artists and scholars and to develop new work in its new context. Ensemble techniques and skills are emphasised, in keeping with African traditions. African theatre Ensemble has staged a number of major African plays, including Nigerian Ola Rotimi’s Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, South African Zakes Mda’s And the Girls in their Sunday Dresses, Egyptian Tawfik Al-Hakim’s Fate of a Cockroach, Ghanaian AmaAta Aidoo’s Anowa, and Nigerian Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman. In 2005, ATE staged its first ensemble creation, Market of Tales. It is currently developing a new work by member Kwame Stephens, “Nkrumah”; and exoporing another, “Destinations,” for performance in the next couple of years. The Ensemble has been a recipient of grants from the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts for its production projects. In 2002, it was one of fifty-two organizations Canada-wide to receive a three-year Capacity Building grant from the Canada Council Diversity Program. ATE has received a Capacity Building Grant from the Department of Canadian Heritage and a project development grant from the Laidlaw Foundation. A not-for-profit organization with chartable status, ATE welcomes donations to support of its operation. Office Location Staff Board of Directors
Consultants MESSAGE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Esu comes to Town The figure which inspires our presentation is Esu, of the intriguing reputation. The Yoruba god of the crossroads, he is also known in the Americas as Exu, Legba, Leggua, Papa Legba, Legbara, Lucero, etc, and frequently evoked an African trickster deity. He has been misrepresented as Satan in the translation of the Bible from English to Yoruba. Esu to the Yoruba, from whom he originates, is the special messenger implored to convey humans’ secret desires to the Almighty. In that role, he is revered and feared. But Esu loves to play. He loves to tease, to tangle and to tackle. He loves the company of humans, for he courts them, plays with them and challenges them. He seeks them just as frequently as he engages his fellow deities on the principles and the meanings for which they stand. The humans are ever so anxious that he might thwart their desires. This primordial actor and transformer, is he not a fitting patron god of theatre? Esu knows the intricacies of serious joy. This play evokes the contradictions and conundrums of our time and place and the role of performance in the human search for clarity. It speaks to our art and craft as theatre artists and as citizens of a polity. In choosing Esu and the Vagabond Minstrels this season, we pay tribute to the writer, Femi Osofisan, who has charmed the world with his many entertaining plays. In Esu and the Vagabond Minstrels, he challenges us, and reminds even the gods, to see below the face, to “look deeply, where the gods look.” Osofisan celebrates his sixtieth birthday this year; we extend our hearty congratulations to him. Please join us at the performance on October 26th when Professor Osofisan will be attendance and a special gala buffet dinner will be held in his honour at 6:00 pm in the Cabaret Hall of the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. As part of our joyful celebration, AfriCan Theatre Ensemble launches its first recorded CD, The Songs of Esu and & the Vagabond Minstrels, featuring the lyrics written for the play by Femi Osofisan, musical accompaniment by Yinka Farinde and the African Beats and the voices of the actors of AfriCan Theatre Ensemble featured in the current production. Please get your copy of this musical treat, available at every show. With best wishes for a great season,
Modupe Olaogun, PhD DIRECTOR’S NOTE- Ayo Adewumi Esu Laalu, Ebun Kumuyi voices an unresolved concern, ‘Due to Christian Syncretism in Nigeria, the Deity or Orisha Esu has become synonymous with the Christian devil’. It is important to note that this misconception is more common among the Yoruba, who on the contrary should know better. This misconception, however, does not undermine the acceptance of Esu as a god/deity/orisha among his believers all over the world who know him as Esu, Echu, Elegbara, Eleggua, Legba, or Exu, and who also have associated him, due to one attribute or the other, to other gods such as, Hermes, Anubis, Lucero, Hanuman and even St. Michael and St. Anthony among many. Views about Esu based on Yoruba mythology and cosmological beliefs as opposed to its theological (mis)interpretation, brought about by Christianity and Islam, makes ‘Esu’ an interesting phenomenon. The physical and spiritual relationship between humans and the gods in Yoruba belief system is an interesting one as reflected in this play. Esu, the trickster god of the crossroads, takes up the form of an old man to put five vagabond musicians to test. He gives them power to help those in need and capable of showing gratitude. And whatever gratification they receive may help turn their lives around. They will leave their world of squalor for that of riches. In as much as the choice of what to do absolutely lies with the minstrels, Esu promises to reward them by multiplying whatever they acquire with the power. As human beings, we always find ourselves at crossroads where we need to make choices. Whatever choice we make may go a long way in affecting the rest of our lives. But when these choices involve helping others or humanity, are our actions based on true altruistic impulses, or premeditated and opportunistic egoism? Is altruism an innate nature of humans or a quality that we adopt and try to live by? In our present day society, in the midst of capitalism and economic oppression, with so much pressure on keeping the self alive, do we genuinely care about others or do we pretend to, just because of what we can gain from them physically or psychologically? Are the poor war-torn countries being neglected by the whole world because they are of no economic importance to the ‘super powers’? Or is the world waiting for another genocide, as in Rwanda or Bosnia, for us to see what’s going on in Sudan? With this play however, Femi Osofisan has rekindled our hope and beliefs about the selfless nature of humanity, and in as much as there is so much evil going on around, there is still some good. Esu only provides us with options; the choice to do good or evil is solely that of humans. And whether we choose to do, good or bad, whether we believe that Esu exists or not, “One day we’ll come to reason at some Sepeteri, where Esu or history, waits in ambush with his noose A big thanks to Yinka Farinde, Mike, Carole Enahoro and Jamal Apena for their support towards the staging of this play. To the actors, I say, break a leg. CAST
As Esu and the Vagabond Minstrels unfolds A community celebrates a festival of song and dance with a play set at a crossroads, the traditional haunt of Esu, the trickster god and divine messenger. Here, five destitute entertainers arrive, so desperate for food that they are willing to steal the offerings that Esu’s devotees leave to the god for good fortune. However, the food is inedible and their fortunes decline until an old priest arrives and offers to transform their lives through a test. By eating the seeds he gives them, the entertainers receive miraculous powers which they must use to help others. In return, they can ask anything of those who have received their help, but they can only use the power once… Intermission: 10 minutes There are now four minstrels, all dressed in finery, and they pelt a disease-stricken Omele, one of them until lately, with stones. As he runs away, the priest arrives with his retinue to ask the entertainers to account for their decisions. One by one, the retinue reveal themselves as the former supplicants but, to the vagabonds’ astonishment, deny ever receiving help from them… Sing along with the Entertainers The last song—“Esu does not Exist” (led by Orunmila)
Performers’ Biographies Anna Aidoo (Chief, 1st Woman, 2nd Stranger, Female Leper & Yeye Osun) is making her debut with AfriCan Theatre Ensemble. Since her childhood in Ghana, the arts have been part of Aidoo’s life and have now become an integral part of her living. Aidoo is a motivational speaker who has spoken at many community, company and school events. She organizes functions that motivate, encourage and inspire people around her to be the best they can be; she is frequently called upon to speak at conferences, workshops, weddings and other festive functions. Aidoo is the founder of “A Woman’s Worth Conference and Awards” which has been running for four years, the founder of the Ghanaian Women’s Courage Awards and the publisher of Unique Magazine (www.annaaidoo.com). Tony Adah (Esu) is currently a PhD candidate in Theatre Arts at the University of Toronto Graduate Drama Centre. He completed a BA and an MA in theatre at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. In the 1980s, he was active in Nigerian theatre, playing many major roles in plays by renowned playwrights Wole Soyinka and Femi Osofisan, as well as other African dramatists. As the artistic director of Scene One, the leading alternative theatre company in Ibadan, he directed Soulmates and Lipstick by Femi Kayode, and Face Up by Chuks Okoye, including others. In 1991, We, The Beasts, which he dramaturged and directed, won a national Association of Nigerian Authors award for best play of the year. From 1991-1998, he taught theatre at the University of Papua New Guinea, where he directed Molière’s Scoundrel Scapin, J. B. Priestly’s An Inspector Calls, and other plays. In 1996, he was invited as a distinguished director by the Drama Department of the University of Capetown, and directed Edufa by Efua Sutherland at the Arena Theatre. At the University of Toronto, he directed Wole Soyinka’s Madmen and Specialists (October 2001), and was the Cultural Consultant for the production of Things Fall Apart, based on the novel by Chinua Achebe, directed by Chuck Mike (April 2003). More recently, he played the role of the Praise Singer in AfriCan Theatre Ensemble’s production of Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman (May 2004) and Adil in Tawfik al-Hakim’s comedy, Fate of a Cockroach (April 2005). He served as assistant director in the Ensemble’s creation and production of Market of Tales (2005). Currently exploring the medium of film, he recently played a lead role as Thomas in Terrance Odette’s feature film Sleeping Dogs screened at the Toronto Film Festival 2006. Ayodele Adewumi (Director) started his professional acting career with Jimi Solanke and refined his craft while studying at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, at first obtaining a Master’s degree in Philosophy then a postgraduate diploma in Theatre Arts, with a specialization in directing and media. He worked professionally in the theatre, television and film industries in Nigeria, then immigrated to Canada in 2004 where he studied Documentary Film Production at Humber College. As an actor, Ayo has worked with most of the notable directors in Nigerian theatre and film including, Bayo Oduneye, Dapo Adelugba, Femi Osofisan, Ahmed Yerima, Ladi Ladebo, Tade Ogidan, Tunji Bamishingbin and Charles Novia. He played major/lead roles in many stage, television and film productions both in Nigeria and Canada, and worked in various capacities as stage manager, production manager, soundman, cameraman and assistant director. His unpublished play, “Girigiri: Pandemonium,” was critically acclaimed when it appeared on stage in Nigeria in 2002, and his theatre directorial credits include his 2002 post-modernist interpretation of Esi-Kinni Olusanyin’s “Bamgbose Sango.” He also directed Dolapo Sikuade’s “Toy Soldier, Boy Soldier” for the 2003 Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting, in Abuja, Nigeria. He is currently working on a documentary film which deals about the issue of secret cults in Nigerian institutions of higher learning. Seifu Tesfaye Belachew (Epo Oyinbo) graduated in Theatre Arts from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. For eleven years he worked as an actor and director for the Hager Fikir Theatre in Addis Ababa, where he also wrote short plays. He was assistant director and actor in Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan, playing Lord Windermere, as well as Shakespeare’s King Lear, playing King Lear. He joined AfriCan Theatre Ensemble in June 2005, participating in the fall 2005 production of Market of Tales. He has recently played a lead role as the Templar in Gotthold Ephrem Lessing’s play Nathan the Wise. Donald Carr (Oga Redio) is widely known as an actor, dancer, director, choreographer, writer and storyteller. Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, he trained as a dancer with Toronto Dance Theatre, Alvin Ailey Dance Company, Martha Graham Dance Company and the National Ballet of Canada, and danced with the Pavlychencko Dance Theatre and Isintu African Dance Company. As an actor/director, he began working with Black Theatre Canada, going on to perform in Paris, Amsterdam, London, Munich and Johannesburg. His stage credits include the title role in R. Murray Shaffer’s Ra (Toronto, Holland), the title role in Oedipus (Festival d’Avignon, France), Duke of Buckingham in Shakespeare’s Richard III, Jesus in The Gospel According to St. John, the lead in Death and the King’s Horseman, and Joe in Trevor Rhone’s Smile Orange. Donald Carr has written and directed a steady stream of creative works that have progressively explored the boundaries of dance and theatre. Most recent works are Absent Fathers, Vanishing Sons, Afrodisiac and The Full Nelson (In Praise of Nelson Mandela). Last year, he received a Harold award for his contributions to Canadian theatre and dance. He is currently working on a new show From Rage to Courage. Olivia Duodu (Sinsin) is a native of Ghana and arrived in Canada at the age of six. A recent member of AfriCan Theatre Ensemble, she has been exposed to the arts since the age of nine when she joined The Westview Choral Project under the inspiration of conductor Brainerd Blyden-Taylor. In 1996 she landed the role of Dorothy in Stanley’s production of The Wiz. Duodu is a graduate of Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts; a former member of the Tarragon’s Young Playwrights’ Unit; and currently a final year student at York University’s Department of English. In 2003, Duodu wrote, directed and choreographed her first major production Rising Sun, a complex production with a cast of fifty. This outreach model was designed to reach out to youth on issues of racism and discrimination. In 2004 she played the role of Tituba in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible produced by Staged and Confused. Duodu is currently a member of the Ontario Education Service Corporation for art schools. Lucky Ejim (Omele) is an actor and filmmaker with a lengthy experience in African theatre both in Nigeria and, since 2000, in Canada. Lately he has played, among other starring roles, Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Chief Kazi in Dance of the Leopard and Ereniyi in The Inspector and the Hero. His exploration of other African playwrights has included the work of Ghanaian dramatist Ama Ata Aidoo, in which he assumed the role of Kofi Ako in the play Anowa. His interests embrace film as well as theatre. He has acted in the 2006 film A Winter’s Tale, among others, and directed and wrote the screenplay for the short film Sounds of the Past. The Tenant (2006) marked his directorial debut on feature film. Ejim holds a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Benin, Nigeria, and is a graduate of the Toronto Film School. Carole Enahoro (Assistant to the Director) has worked as a producer and director in the film, television and IMAX® industry for twenty years, producing programmes such as Scala (winner of the Chicago Film Festival Best Documentary award) and Oyinbo Pepper (funded by the Arts Council of Great Britain and featured in Peter Gidal’s book Materialist Film). She has also managed localization for Electronic Arts, the world’s largest independent game developer, on projects such as the James Bond and Harry Potter series. She has written two political comedies about issues affecting African development (Doing Dangerously Well represented by the Cooke Agency and Nomads funded by the Ontario Arts Council). Her academic qualifications include MAs in African Art & Archaeology (SOAS, University of London) and Film & TV Studies (University of Westminster). She currently directs live interactive distance learning television programming and lectures on creative writing and narrative structure at the University of Ontario, Institute of Technology. Khareme Lambie (Prince, Wounded Man, Obaluaye) has been acting for the past seven years and has previously performed with AfriCan Theatre Ensemble in Our Father Has Gone Mad Again.His repertoire ranges from films, such as Blue Turning Grey Over You (2000), to network television including an episode of Mayday airing on the Discovery channel, and theatre.Currently, he is working on a book of poetry entitled Deep Breath (working title) while pursuing life in the performing arts. Amanda Lockitch (Stage Manager) is currently a second year PhD student at the U of T Graduate Centre for Study of Drama. Her thesis work is based on cultural adaptations of the Medea myth. Along with her academic focus in theatre Amanda works as an actor, director and dramaturg, and is one third of the Vancouver-based company Meta.for Theatre Society. She is thrilled to be working with AfriCan Theatre Ensemble whom she met in her role as Technical Director for the 2005/06 Festival of Original Theatre. Mike McClay (Technical Director, Set & Lighting Design) is very excited to be back with African Theatre Ensemble. Mike is a Theatre Trollop, working as an Actor, Director, Producer, and Technical Director; for some reason he just loves to work in Theatre. Mike is just back from a successful tour in the Mid-West, and North-East US, and is looking forward to working the GTA for a while. Thanks to Modupe Olaogun, the Producer, for inviting me back to play with this talented and important cultural voice for Canadians Jeff Nantes (Set & Lighting Design) has been working back stage for so long that he feels that all black clothing is more than a fashion statement – it is his entire wardrobe. A veteran of all facets of live performance Jeff has worked lights and sound on everything from Rock Concerts to Flute solos. He has lit every sort of stage production from large cast Musicals to Comedy stand up shows. Jeff is very excited to be a part of this production. Muoi Nene (Ade, Impotent Man, 1st Stranger, Male Leper/Orunmila) was in born in Nairobi, Kenya to a family of artists. His mother – an actor and playwright – wrote award winning plays while his father introduced Nene to music through his proficiency with the guitar. The tradition of storytelling has always called to him, initially in the form of spoken word and lately in a range of other media, including film, theatre and dance. He has served as choreographer and actor/dancer/storyteller as part of AfriCan Theatre Ensemble’s Market of Tales and acted in Fate of a Cockroach written by Egyptian playwright Tawfik al-Hakim, one of the most important authors in the Arabic world. He was a member of the Toronto-based African dance troupe Nouvel Exposé. In September 2005, he co-wrote An Unexpected Guest, which won first place in the Write Movies A/Exposure script writing contest in Hollywood. Modupe Olaogun (Artistic Director; Producer; Costumes) was born and raised in Ibadan, Nigeria. Olaogun has a PhD degree from York University, Toronto, and is a professor of English at York and currently Master of Stong College. She is the founder of AfriCan Theatre Ensemble, and has been its Artistic Director since the company’s inception in 1998. Under her leadership, the company staged seven productions at Artword Theatre in Toronto. She has organized guest lectures and workshops in collaboration with the University of Toronto and York University for the visiting playwrights of some of these productions: Nigerian Ola Rotimi (deceased), South African Zakes Mda, and Nigerian Femi Osofisan; and for Dr. Tess Onwueme, one of Africa’s leading women playwrights. Her production credits include The Gods Are Not to Blame, by Ola Rotimi (1999); Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, by Ola Rotimi (2000); And the Girls in Their Sunday Dresses, by Zakes Mda (2001), Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman (2004); Tawfik al-Hakim’s Fate of a Cockroach (2004); Market of Tales (2005); and Esu and the Vagabond Minstrels (2006). In 2006-07, she will be hosting a play-reading series at the resuscitated Samuel Beckett Theatre at York University’s Stong College. Funmi Olumade (2nd Woman, Pregnant Woman, 3rd Stranger) is a skilled dance leader, comedian, and actress, who has performed in various stage productions. A member of AfriCan Theatre Ensemble since its inception, she performed in the company’s production of The Gods are not to Blame, Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again and Death and the King’s Horseman. Recently, she acted in the movie God’s Own Country by Femi Agbayewa. Olumade is active in the Nigerian community in Toronto and currently serves as the Vice President of the Yoruba Community Association. She is a graduate of York University and holds a B.A. degree in Sociology. Femi Osofisan (Writer) is the author of fifty plays, many of which have been performed in different countries around the world. One of Africa’s foremost writers, he is also the author of four novels, four collections of poetry and four volumes of essays and a contributor from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s of popular columns in Nigerian newspapers. Dr. Osofisan was born in Erunwon village in the old Western Region of Nigeria and educated at the universities of Ibadan, Dakar, and Paris; he is a professor of drama at the University of Ibadan. Osofisan has extended the entertainment forms of the moonlight tales of the Yoruba, crossing them with contemporary literary forms to forge a theatre that is enchanting, socially relevant and highly popular. His ability to dramatize the local experience while exploring universal themes places him in the ranks of such well-known playwrights as the Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka- with whom he has been frequently compared, the Egyptian Tawfik al-Hakim, and the South African Athol Fugard and Reza de Wet. He wrote and premiered Esu and the Vagabond Minstrels in Nigeria in 1984. In June 2006 Osofisan turned sixty. His achievements as a playwright, director, poet, novelist, and literary and drama critic were celebrated in Nigeria through many activities: productions and readings of his plays, symposia and the launching of a Festschrift in his honour entitled Portraits For An Eagle, edited by Sola Adeyemi. Tracy “Niambi” Stewart (Jigi) has been involved in the performing arts since her early childhood in Jamaica, taking to the stage in church and school. Her current interests span theatre, film, dance and song. She studied performing arts at the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts in Jamaica and then pursed further studies in Radio and Television Arts at Seneca College and performance at the Humber School of Creative and Performing Arts. She is a seasoned dancer with African troupes Le Groupe des Arts Bassan and COBA Dance Company. Her interest in acting has led her to star in films as wide-ranging as Superbob (lead), Closure (lead), Sweet Partings (lead) and taken supporting roles in such films as The Big Ticket. She is currently recording her debut album, Sistah Rock Steady. Young Centre for the Performing Arts
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