Week without a personal computer

So, last update was from Thursday of last week I believe. So starting from there. Friday I went to the Ghana vs. Swaziland football game (or soccer as it's called back home). It was the first big sports event that I have ever been to and it was AMAZING!!! I went with a couple friends from ISH, Sasha and Sarah. We took the trotro over there which was fun since we got stuck in traffic. We ended up talking to come guy on the trotro about the game and he gave us directions and advice on how to get there and whatnot. We walked past the National Theatre which was cool, since we'd only seen it in passing before, and then walked the rest of the way toward the stadium. For the entire trotro trip we kept wondering why we didn't see tons of people heading towards the game. We were the only ones on our trotro going and we had been told that this was a big deal. It was the last qualifying match for Ghana to see if they went to the African football tournament. But there was relatively no reveling as we went to the stadium. Imagine our surprise as we got close to the stadium and were swamped by men in Ghana flags jumping up and down as if they were at a rave. We had to fight in lines to get tickets, and we got cheap ones. Literally people elbow in front of each other to the window. It's less of a line and more of a gaggle. So anyhow, we got our tickets headed into the stadium and ended up with a pretty nice view of the field as well as the TV for close-ups and we were right behind a huge band of Ghana supporters so we were dancing pretty much the whole time. It was a great time for sure.

After the game, we started walking back towards the National Theatre to the bus station to find a trotro or a cab. As we walked back though we decided to stop and the Theatre for a potty break. Lo and behold we ended up walking into a televised music competition sponsored by Coke. We just randomly walked near the theatre and found our there was this big concert going on. So I also experienced my first live concert and we danced a bit with some Ghanaian enthusiasts. We didn't even know the music, but it was a fun time.

Then on Saturday, we went to the Fetu Festical in Cape Coast. It's traditionally a harvest festival of sorts, but over time it has degraded to a parade of dancing and (at least for some) a reason to get wasted and make a fool of yourself in public. It was very interesting though from a performance perspective. I was constantly thinking about the discussion we had in our theatre history course last semester regarding Mardi Gras and Vortices of Behavior. I was also reminded of a discussion in the same class where Dr. O'Connor told us about a Brazillian street performance of guerilla theatre which was brought to the huge festival in Ireland. We discussed the concept of de-contextualization and how it can affect the work itself as well as performers, etc. During the festival we saw many, many street performers, and I couldn't help but wonder how their costumes and performative behavior would be interpreted by early westerners. Can you imagine a Portuguese sailor stumbling upon a village where this festival was taking place, how he would have reacted at the sight of a half naked man black man painted with white stripes all across him, or how he would interpret a dancing colorful ape that was the size of a small child? I also kept thinking that the festival itself has been so far removed from the historical purpose that the people themselves have decontextualized their performances. For instance there was a troupe of officials in the parade who proceeded with the chief, they had some sort of plants entwined in their hair and they were sweeping the ground. In the historical context of this these people were actually meant to be sweeping away evil spirits that might cause famine or creep into the hearts of man to cause war. In the modern setting they were by far the closest to the historical symbolic nature of the parade however next to the street performers who would constantly cross their path and purposefully jump into pictures that people were trying to take in order to force onlookers to put a few pesawas into their collection cans, these sacred gestures were made meaningless by the very people who were supposed to believe in them. One thing was entirely evident, the entire culture of modern day Ghana is a consistent clash of modern vs traditional.

After that busy weekend, I took it slow on Sunday, lazing around most of the day and then going to a performance of "A Raisin in the Sun." Again, the performance itself was decent, better than the other show that I saw, however I learned more about the audience and the expectations here rather than being engaged in a touching performance. I will say that the director had an interesting, if somewhat non-text based, interpretation of the show. A few of the actors were very good. The mother in particular had some truly touching moments and she was by far the most convincing character. She seemed to understand the setting and time period much better, and she even endeavored to have an African-American accent rather than a Ghanaian one, which I was highly impressed with. However, all of the actors seemed lost at moments in the piece, meaning was lost and moments were destroyed. From my point of view though it was more a director problem than an actor one though. The actors were good and endeavored to make meaning throughout the piece, but I think that because the director had given them an interpretation that was not based in the text the actors were not able to make sense in each line because in the greater picture that moment no longer worked at the playwright wrote it due to this new interpretation. The show also gave me to ideas for my directing experience here, and I am learning even more about acting styles, director styles, and technical limitations that I will be dealing with. It is a bit daunting knowing that the expectations and conventions are so different from what I am used to. But I feel like Jeffery's directing class last semester has at least equipped me to be able to identify those issues and have tools for working them out, even if I am not successful in that, I think it will be an incredible learning experience.

Monday, I had playwriting, which was once again wonderful. I had been assigned last week to start writing a play on the topic I came up with in class. However, after trying to sit down and write, I couldn't find any words for the characters in the story I had cooked up in class. So, after a nice lap and some thinking, I began another piece. The style is highly influenced by a play I saw at KCACTF, but the story deals with the lives of foster children. I wrote the first few scenes and was actually disappointed that we didn't get to read it in class, but that's for next week. After class I met one of the other students, Linda, who is very sweet. As I was talking to her I complimented her on the bracelet she was wearing and she immediately offered to get me one and asked what color I wanted. I was so astounded by her generosity that I almost refused, but as she insisted I decided to accept her offer. Her sister apparently makes the bracelets, and she was very happy to have one made for me. Yet again, I am astounded and the kindness of the Ghanaian people, especially the women. In the evening Monday, I learned how to made redred, which is beans and fried plantains, but sadly I had to rush off to choir rehearsal before I could eat so Daniel had to save me some. It was delicious needless to say, and Daniel apparently shared with several Ghanaians who said the beans were amazing. So now he's decided to teach me how to cook all things Ghanaian because he thinks I am a born chef. lol.

Tuesday's directing class gave some more formal guidelines as far as my play goes. I'll be directing a one-act, maximum 30 mins, and they are allowing me about a months time and some limited resources from the theatre department which is actually pretty generous considering their main contribution is to pay for the script copies I need which would be the bulk of my costs anyways. I also went and checked out the theatre space to get an idea about my staging limitations and whatnot, but their space is so versatile as an outdoor theatre that I can really do any type that I want, though if it was an evening performance it would have to be on the proscenium stage. They have like 8-10 lights total and they are all par-cans. They have limited gels and specials are pretty much none. They didn't even seem to have shutters or barn-doors to limit the field of the light. Matthew Snyder would be appalled. hahaha! But that's what I have to work with, so I'll deal. At the moment, I am thinking it would be really cool to direct something in a real thrust stage or in alley-way. However, at this point it really just depends on what script I can find. That's the other thing. Because books are so scarce here, you literally CANNOT just go to a bookstore and buy a compilation of one act plays to look through. I thought it was hard to find a selection of play to get my 10 minutes scene for directing last semester, but this is nightmarish at times. The library had tons scripts but none are organized and most, if not all, are from past productions so there is just a jumble of scripts with many multiples all stacked on the shelf together. They have a few anthologies, but they are almost all full-length plays. I cannot however dog the library here too much because they have an amazing selection of theatre history books. They have Artaud and Grotowski's works as well as a book Stanislavsky wrote I believe. So, when it comes down to it, I may be spending some time sitting in the library reading "Theatre of Cruelty" and the rest. : D

Tuesday evening after choir practice I had an excellent conversation with some other choir members and I finally feel as if I have many some good Ghanaian friends. They promised to help me learn Twi as well as some of the other Ghanaian languages, like Ga and Fante. They also promised to practice the African dances with me, which is really awesome cause I love that class but feel like I don't get enough individual time with the Ghanaians or the TAs to solidify the dances in my body. Overall, I feel like I am actually getting used to living here, and I have some very exciting future prospects as far as learning the language, cooking, bead making, traveling, and really delving into the culture like I had hoped I would be able to.

On another note, I found out that I was cast in that film I auditioned for. I am a prostitute, and the only white person in the cast or crew. There are over 100 people involved currently, but as I got the chance to read the script, I found out that it is simply a Ghanaian retelling of Bertolt Brecht's "The Good Woman of Setzuan." I find it ironic that after missing my chance to be a part of that show at Fairmont (and all the guilt and anger and sadness I felt when I had to leave the cast) now I am in the same show in Ghana and I am playing a character which is the equivalent of the one I would have played at home. Ah, the irony! I have two lines, which are pretty much just crowd lines, and I think I will only have to be on set for the shooting of the production like 2-3 times. But it will be my first real film credit. hahaha!

Wednesday, classes were fun. History and Development of Theatre in Ghana is turning out to be interesting but also annoying, mostly because it's a big class, and I find myself constantly losing focus. I finally feel like I am retaining some things in drumming and traditional songs which is good. I need to practice more, but that sort of goes without saying. Wednesday evening was our first actual rehearsal for the film I am in, where we read the script, I found that the rehearsal process here is much more low-key and informal than I am used to. As I have contemplated it I honestly don't think I can direct like that, and I don't think I should change my directing style to accommodate the expectations of the Ghanaian actors I will be working with. Instead, I think it will be more profitable to structure things as I would if I were directing at home. Perhaps it will help the actors, I'm not sure. But I just know that I cannot work as a director without more structure than what I have witnessed and experienced from the directors here. It may turn into more of a battle than I would like, but I am willing struggle; it'll make it a more interesting and profitable learning experience in the end.

Today is Thursday so it's been pretty low key since I don't have many classes. But I am figuring out what I will direct while I am here. Trying to find something I can get online and preferably royalty free, but we'll see if I can really find the diamond in the ruff. I was going to go to the market today, but Daniel offered to take me on Saturday instead which is market day, so Madina is bustling. I think that will be a lot of fun, and I will be able to get all the food stuff I need as well as maybe finding a seamstress to make my dresses and taking some cool pictures to post later of Madina Market. As far as the computer issues go I found out that the memory, RAM, and battery are all fine. The computer itself is pretty intact, but the guy who looked at it said it was probably a problem with the motherboard or the processor. I was right about it coming from the overheating though. He said that when he researched the computer I have about 85% of the people who had the same computer had the same issue come up from overheating. Daniel said it might be worth is to just take the memory off my computer and then sell it and buy a new one, but I don't really want to do that cause I think it would be a hassle to sell and the cheapest computer here is about 400 cedi. Instead we are going to a professional IT center where someone will look at it and then tell me how much it will cost to fix. Daniel is going to bring me there tomorrow, and he said that the most expensive it should be would be like 100 cedi, but he doesn't think it will be even that much. Hopefully I will be able to negotiate a good price and have my computer back before the end of the last at the latest. So, here's to hoping.