"You are on the threshold of a wonderful magical dream, but it is a dream not without bitterness," says the narrator in a play to open Tuesday, Nov. 2, and to be performed by a cast of Canada World Youth (CWY) visitors.
The play is called From the Podium to the Throne by Ivory Coast author Amadou Kone, and it has a dreamy, mythical quality that gives it universal interest. It could be set during any age, at any location in Africa or in just about any other country.
Kone, a professor, novelist and playwright, originally wrote the play in French, the language of West Africa's Ivory Coast. It has been translated by Jacqueline Rogers, and this could be the first time it has been performed in English in Canada.
English is the language that audiences expect on the Sunshine Coast - it's also a common denominator for the international cast of CWY students. Many are from South Africa, and they are working in Sunshine Coast communities with young Canadians from Ottawa, Halifax and Quebec, among other locations. As in the past, the money raised by ticket sales for their performance will be returned to the CWY pot so the students can mount a project in Africa when they head that way in mid-November.
The play incorporates lots of singing and dancing that energizes this dramatic tale. A traveller gazes on a glorious palace, but the guards who surround the palace threaten him. He is a wise traveller and he philosophizes with the guards for a while, setting them thinking about their lives, their marriages and their religion. Now friendlier, they tell him about one of the astonishing customs of the country: the happy prince who lives in the palace has received everything his heart desires for the past 12 years. But on the last hour of the last day of his reign, he must die. Today is that day.
The prince does not want to die and he remains alone in the quiet palace on the last day, trusting no one, with only his faithful female consort for company. Staying with the prince throughout this strange tradition has cost the woman a lot - she has lost her dreams and the boyfriend she once had. Now, she's about to be launched into an even more terrible conflict.
The play's director is Jean Pierre Makosso whose experience helped mount last year's first post-apartheid African play, The Playground, performed by Canada World Youth. Makosso has taken time this autumn to go on a book tour to promote his first book, La Voix du Conteur (The Voice of the Storyteller), written in French and published last August through Editions Dedicaces in Québec. He has passed the directing torch to Sandi McGinnis. One of the CWY youth, Mike Lott, has also stepped in to act as an assistant and read Makosso's part (the traveller) as they rehearse.
It promises to be a fully staged production. Costumes and masks are by Linda McTurk with Joanne Vos' assistance. Ruby Fleming will do make up and hair.
Performance dates are Nov. 2, 3, 4 at 7:30 p.m. at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons. Tickets for $15 are at Gaia's Fair Trade in Gibsons, the Roberts Creek Health Food Store and WindSong Gallery in Sechelt.
