|
News Releases 
"The beggar begs to the giver, the giver begs to God. The gift of charity is the beggar, the giver and God all eating from the same bowl." -Sabar, The Beggars’ Strike 
For Immediate Release: December 31, 2001
Minneapolis, MN - The Children’s Theatre Company begins the new year with the world premiere of The Beggars’ Strike. This adaptation, based on the prize-winning book by Senegalese author Animata Sow Fall, has book and lyrics by Carlyle Brown, with music composed by Kysia Bostic. The production is directed by Tazewell Thompson, with choreography by Julie Arenal, scenic design by Donald Eastman, lighting design by Pip Gordon, costume design by Merrily Murray-Walsh, and sound design by Fabian Obispo.
The Beggars’ Strike tells the story of an Islamic West African community caught between the pressures of traditional and contemporary values. The government wants to increase tourism as a source of revenue and thinks in order to do so they must rid the city streets of the ragged beggars. But, the beggars are essential to the spiritual life of the community, and they know it. They deliver the prayers of the people to God. As the government plans to to remove the city beggars, all the beggars decide to strike. What follows is an avalanche of mistaken identities, hilarious chaos, and befuddled orders. The play is a complex tapestry of human nature, and is punctuated with exhilarating West African music, ranging from prayerful to playful.
For director Tazewell Thompson, this play raises a philosophical question about what may be a global and natural synergy between the haves and the have nots, the gifted and the challenged, the corporation and the individual. "And, to my mind," says Thomspon, "Carlyle Brown dramatizes this conundrum with biting wit and delicious humor. That the age old story is played out in Africa is not only timely but appropriate. This continent perfectly encapsulates the forces of plenty and want at war with each other, even as they ironically fulfill each other’s need to survive."
CTC artistic director Peter C. Brosius had been carrying Animata Sow Fall’s book with him for several years, knowing he wanted to turn it into a play. But, it was not until he met St. Paul playwright Carlyle Brown that he was convinced it was time to proceed. The Beggars’ Strike has been in development for over two years in CTC’s new play lab, THRESHOLD. The play was also workshopped at the prestigious Kennedy Center’s New Visions/New Voices last winter. When asked about the play in light of the events of September 11, Brosius said "Because the world’s interest in Islam has increased, we are coincidentally positioned to respond to that curiosity through humor and theatricality. And, this story revolves around not only a key Islamic value, but a value central to most religions - that of charity."
Aminata Sow Fall was one of the first African women to have a novel published in French, she founded the Centre Africain d'Animation et d'Echanges Culturels (CAEC) in Dakar and is the director of the publishing company Khoudia. Her award-winning novel La Grève des Battu (The Beggars' Strike) won several literary awards and gained Sow Fall international recognition. Carlyle Brown has been an award-winning playwright, a director, an actor, a producer, an artist-in-residence and a teacher at theaters and universities all across America and Canada. He is the recipient of playwriting fellowships from numerous foundations including The Minnesota State Arts Board, the McKnight Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. He was the founding artistic director of The Laughing Mirror Theatre and is a core alumnus of the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis and of New Dramatists. During the two-year development of The Beggars’ Strike Brown served as CTC’s playwright-in-residence through the Theatre Residencey Program for Playwrights, a project of the National Endowment for the Arts and Theatre Communications Group. Composer Kysia Bostic has composed and arranged music for numerous plays, films and concerts, including the off-Broadway hit The Colored Museum by George C. Wolfe. She was recently commissioned by the Kennedy Center to compose and perform music for Harlem and she has been commissioned to write the filmscore to the American Experience piece on Marcus Garvey.
Tazewell Thompson, who directed Stamping, Shouting & Singing Home at CTC last season, has traveled the world creating brilliant theater and opera in Paris,Tokyo, and Madrid, as well as the USA. He was the artistic director of Syracuse Stage and the artistic associate/resident director at the Arena Stage and Acting Company, where his work was nominated for 30 Helen Hayes Awards. He has directed or produced 25 world and American premieres including Black No More, the joint venture of the Guthrie Theatre and Arena Stage. His opera credits include La Scala, Opera Bastille, Tokyo Opera, Teatro Real, San Francisco Opera, and New York City Opera. Julie Arenal choreography credits include the original Broadway productionsof Hair and Indians, numerous regional theaters and ballets, and productionsin Japan, Sweden, and London. She has also choreographed films including King of the Gypsies, Once Upon a Time in America, and Great Expectations.
Many of the creative team are returning to CTC after working on Stamping, Shouting & Singing Home. Scenic designer Donald Eastman and director Tazewell Thompson have previously worked together on several productions, including Les Trois Dumas at Indiana Rep and Black No More for the Guthrie Theater and Arena Stage. Eastman was awarded the Village Voice OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence of Set Design. During the last 15 years, lighting designer Pip Gordon has created over 150 designs in lighting and scenery for theatre, dance, opera, industrial, and television. She is currently an associate professor and department chair of theatre at Grinnell College. The work of costume designer Merrily Murray-Walsh has been seen in films (The Glass Menagerie), on television (In Search of Dr. Seuss), and on stage at any number of theaters throughout the country. She has also collaborated with Tazewell Thompson for projects at the Columbus Opera, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the Indiana Repertory Theatre. Fabian Obispo has created soundscapes at numerous Off-Broadway and regional theaters and has received the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Italy Residency Award 2000 and the Straw Hats Award for Best Music.
The Beggars’ Strike is performed by a 19-member cast, which includes seven local guest artists, one CTC resident company member, and eleven student actors. The politically ambitious Mour Ndiaye is played by Shawn Hamilton who was last seen at CTC in productions of Boundless Grace, Crow and Weasel, and The Jungle Book. He has also been in shows at the Great American History Theater, the Guthrie Theater and the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Mour’s wife, Lolli Ndiaye, is played by former CTC company member Monica Scott who, in addition to numerous productions at CTC including last fall’s Stamping, Shouting & Singing Home, has performed at Illusion Theater, Penumbra Theatre, and the Guthrie Theater. Mour’s daughter, Rabbi Ndiaye, is played by Joetta Wright who worked on Stamping, Shouting & Singing Home and Boundless Grace at CTC. She is also a reporter for KARE-TV’s "Whatever" teen news program. The Chief of Police is played by James A. Williams in his first appearance on the CTC stage. Williams has worked at numerous local and regional theaters and his film credits include In the Line of Duty and The Hunt for Justice.
Gregory Stewart Smith plays Gorgui Diop, a beggar who is mistaken for a holy man. Smith has worked at local and regional theaters including Pillsbury House Theatre, the Paul Bunyan Playhouse and he worked with director Tazewell Thompson on the Guthrie and Arena Stage production of Black No More. Gavin Lawrence, who plays Nguirane Sarr, the proud blind beggar, has been seen in various productions at the Guthrie Theater and can be spotted in the film Joe Somebody. Salla Niang, another beggar, is played by Greta Oglesby who has been seen on the stages of Penumbra Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, the Goodman Theatre, and was in several films including My Life. In addition to her performance in last season’s Stamping, Shouting & Singing Home, and this fall’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, CTC Resident Company member Marvette Knight (Jili) choreographed the CTC productions Two African Tales and Lady Hummingbird and Amazing Grace. She has also been on stage at Penumbra Theatre (Mojo and the Sayso), the Guthrie Theatre, and Mixed Blood Theater (A...My Name Is Alice). David Barrow (the Seringe, a holy man) has worked at CTC in numerous productions including Wings of the Hummingbird, The Hobbit, and Rembrant Takes a Walk, as well as touring productions in 1989 and 1999. He has also worked at the Wilma Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, and Penumbra Theatre.
The Beggars’ Strike opens January 18 and runs through February 16. Preview performances are Tuesday, January 15, Wednesday, January 16, and Thursday, January 17. Ticket prices are $9-22 for children, seniors, and students, and $15-28 for adults. Discounts are available for groups of 15 or more. For more information, call the CTC Ticket Office at 612-874-0400. The Children’s Theatre Company is located at 2400 Third Avenue South in Minneapolis.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and CTC will host the PAY WHAT YOU CAN performance of The Beggars’ Strike on Tuesday, February 12 at 7:30PM. Tickets go on-sale Tuesday, February 5, one week prior to the performance.
Photos are available on-line at: www.ctcpix.org.
More about THE BEGGARS' STRIKE»
Back to News & Reviews
|
