For everything that begins has to end, so did the 9th graders' projects. Both projects, Raising Funds for Gambian Orphans and the Poetry Jam were combined to become a stage show in the school theatre last Tuesday March 13th, 2012.
Fifty minutes to present the work of about forty teenagers to an audience eager to see what all the buzz was about.
The Show was written and directed with clear guidelines, namely it had to send a moral message, be music free (sound effects allowed), use authentic story lines and be entertaining at the same time! A tall order if one considers the context as well as the history of shows and presentations in our school!
My message from the word go was, 'It can be done; we just need to be a bit more creative.' But creative requires a lot more work and I'm not sure everyone was as confident as I was! Well, as confident as I tried to be!
So, with that all set, scriptwriters got working, some students took charge of decor and props, the more computer savvy ones put together visual background with authentic sound-effects, one girl even appealed to her father to supply us with a professional spot light, laser and smoke machine! The poets got busy making venitian masks whose purpose was to look good, entertain, unify the look of each poet but also enable the more shy girls not to be recognised should everything go pear-shape on the day! And the added point to that, was the creative and artistic aspect of this, as each had to create her own mask.
We recruited a couple of council members who acted as directors. Reem was coached to become the voice of a narrator and everyone else embraced their part with so much commitment that we could feel a sense of order even during the chaos.
And The Show began....
Act I
Esma and Sarah appeared on the stage with a school playground backdrop and the sound of children playing, discussing the Gambian fundraiser and what they could do to raise funds. They discussed putting together a band as that seemed to be the thing most people do when it came to raising money for the needy.
On came a couple of characters, dressed in professional outfits, Sammer and Maie, speaking on the phone to Esma who asked them to help them put on a charity event for their cause. The two directors agreed and the auditions began.
One after the other, groups of girls stumble onto the stage to perform their song - a pitiful attempt by each one of them leaves the directors desperate and clearly unable to put on a show for the school girls.
Keen to hear good news, Esma calls the directors who admit it was a total failure so have no other choice but to step down.
Unshaken, Esma addresses the audience and reminds them that singing and music isn't the way - that she and her mates have better ideas which she lists (the ribbons, calendars, bracelets, etc.) and then goes on to ask them if they've ever thought about what a Gambian child's life is really like compared to the life they lead everyday. 'Well, let us show you,' she exclaims as she walks off the stage.
The stage goes dark. End of Act I
Act II
We hear the voice of a narrator focussing us on one half of the stage set up as a typical teenage girl's bedroom, pink and furnished with all the gadgets and toys a middle class girl enjoys at that age.
In stomps Menna - the spoiled and ungrateful girl - shouting about having lost her Blackberry cover. A humble mum tries to calm her down, to no avail. The scene continues to display the arrogant and ungrateful behaviour of the privileged girl.
This half of the stage goes dark as the spot light draws us to the other half of the stage, set up with a tent and a young girl, Fatimah, dressed in oversized pyjamas.
Fatimah stands up and begins to speak of her daily plight - finding food. The scene continues as she chatters on with her friends and we see the joy on her face when the girls share a bowl of rice.
Both girls wish for a different life, yet, as the narrator points out, 'Be careful what you wish for.'
A bright flashing green light, smoke and the sound of a heart beat blind the stage.
End of Act II
Act III
Silence. Lights.
We see Menna waking up and asking, 'Where am I? What is this place? I think I'm going crazy...' But she isn't. She is now living Fatimah's life - her worst nightmare. She meets her 'new friends' and slowly has to accept that this is her new life. She then misses what she had and appreciates how ungrateful she used to be. She now sympathises with the girls and thus becomes a better person.
Fatimah wakes up in a house - a real house, with 'a bedroom, a bathroom, stairs...and a mum!' Her own mum. Her best dream.
An emotional scene takes place as the narrator talks us through this last part and we see mother and daughter enjoy a long embrace.
End of Act III
And Esma appears asking the audience if 'they'd got it.' The importance of gratitude and understanding others' plights reminding us that as the world has become smaller, everyone is now our neighbour, and that looking after and caring for our neighbour is our Islamic duty. She is then joined by her classmates who present the cheque to Al-Atharee Association of the Gambia.
Then on rush the two directors we'd forgotten about who are still trying to find a way of making themselves useful and invite the group of students to a Poetry Jam of Consciousness.
The stage is cleared and the narrator introduces the poets one by one. Strong words with touching messages of hope and truth are shared with the audience by these young masked girls who manage to further capture our attention from the beginning to the end.
THE END
And The Show drew to its end. The audience was clearly touched as many rushed towards the stage thanking the girls and asking us all how they could help.
The answer is simple, and still the same...please donate and keep donating to help make a difference in the life of the children of the Gambia.
What a beautiful journey this has been and what a shame we weren't able to film any of it to share it with those we were doing it for. I hope these words will give them a sense of how close to them we tried to get, and how deep in all our hearts they have got.
