Last Saturday at
the National theater in Accra, I saw Aladdin,
as staged by students of the Association International School (AIS), and the
Accra Symphony Orchestra, and directed by the budding writer, director and
entrepreneur Elsie Esinam Srodah.
The ages of the main cast ranged from 7 to 16
years, and I suspect that there were even younger children as members of the
choir, who faithfully supported the cast and orchestra with their joyful, but
not so harmonized melodies characteristic of any 70-member children’s choir. Given that this was a production staged by
children, I forgave all technical errors, shut my eyes to any inconsistencies,
and closed my ears to all discordant tunes.
This write-up is therefore not a
critique of the production, but an account of my emotional response to the
piece, and the valuable lessons I learnt from these wonderful children.
So, here goes…
1.
There is no such thing as a “little” role
I can bet my last copper-colored
one pesewa coin, not because its considered worthless by many Ghanaians I must
say, that the favorite character for over 70% of the audience from the Aladdin
production was Abu, the monkey.
This was played by 7-year-old
Mael Moonsamy.
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| Abu, the monkey |
It was a nonspeaking role;
all he had to do was be a monkey. And a monkey he was! – to the best of his abilities!
He jumped around, scratched his armpits, scratched his buttocks, jumped some more and
sent us all down memory lane to when we first saw the Disney classic. He made
the most out of a minor role and this earned him not only "audience’ favorite” but
also a big hug from me at the end of the play.
Mael’s outstanding performance
also got me thinking about every single role I’d ever played in a production,
and how much more I could have done with each one of them. It got me thinking about
how little details could be overlooked just because we didn’t give our
individual roles the merit it deserved, and this raised even more questions in
my head.
How many times have we
had to be the one to make sure that the lights came on when they should, but
slept on the job?
How many times have we
had to be the ones to ensure that a prop was placed at the right spot but then
forgot?
How many times did we
have to help zip up a main cast’s costume but didn’t, because such a job
description is nowhere in the event brochure?
These questions go beyond
a production to even our personal lives at work – or school.
How many times have we
refused to grab an opportunity because it did not look as big as what we had in
mind?
Have we taken time off to
help friends and family with the things that seem unimportant? - house chores, homework,
or just being there to talk when they need a friend?
We would be amazed how
our small inputs could help them achieve more in little time.
If Mael had been lazy
with his role and tagged along just because he was "the monkey", many people would
not have laughed as hard as they did! And since laughter is the best medicine,
Mael has definitely saved many of us a doctor’s appointment for the next couple of
months.
The little things are surely
the most essential, and are the very things that make a great production, or by
extension, a better world. It is therefore important that wherever we find
ourselves, and no matter what we are asked to do, we do it to the best of our
abilities, even if we are not going to get any credit for it.
2.
Anybody can, so why can’t I?
I bought a violin 2 years
ago and I’m ashamed to admit that I haven’t gone past “twinkle twinkle little
stars”. My excuses? Many!…I need to plan a meal for an overweight patient…I
have to submit my PhD proposal to this
professor in that school…I’m tired,
too stressed from work…I don’t have enough time…I can’t afford 3 violin lessons
a week…
These excuses do make sense, really, but when you hear a 9-year old play
a saxophone like he doesn’t love his lungs, then you know you’ve been messing
up BIG TIME!
Yes, 9-year old
saxophonist, Phronesis Sackitey, who I’m informed started playing since he was
6, made me realize that the word “impossible” was only coined to limit our
minds. This young boy took the stage, and blew his glorious wind instrument to
the awe of the audience.
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| Phronesis Sackitey dazzling the crowd |
He taught me that there
is absolutely NO excuse good enough for why we are not achieving the goals we’ve
set for ourselves. Whether it’s to learn
to play an instrument, start a little business or acquire any life skill, the
only person capable of stopping us is ourselves!
3.
Life is not always perfect, but we can make it beautiful
This is a lesson I know I’ll
forget a few seconds after typing because I’m a perfectionist. I like to cross
all t’s and dot all i’s so it’ll take me a while to fully appreciate all of
life’s beautiful imperfections.
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| The evil Jafar |
As mentioned earlier, I’m not being a
critic today, but let's assume that a few heartless experts in the field decided to rate this
production with their rigorous technical evaluation methods.
They’ll probably rate
it at or slightly above average. But what makes this production priceless is something
that is quite difficult to measure – its beauty; from little ballerinas toddling, hands on waists, in
their colorful costumes, to teenage boys completely disregarding puberty and participating in a Disney musical.
These things added more depth to this production than any theatrical device could ever do.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m
not encouraging mediocrity, as this production was nowhere near mediocre, but just saying that, in as much as we give our
best, we must understand that somethings may not be picture perfect, but can
still be beautiful if we approached them with an open heart and mind.
On Saturday, my senses could
only appreciate how enthusiastic these young children were in showcasing their
God-given talents and entertaining an audience that ranged from little children to Mommies, daddies, grandparents, and oh, the first lady of the republic!
So yes, Aladdin would not
be at par with a Broadway production and the choir did not sound like the
Monteverdi choir, but I totally enjoyed it and overall, it taught me that there
was so much potential for the arts in Ghana.
It was refreshing to see
the hard work that the children put into the production, especially the
fact that they helped make everything from their costumes to props
to even the set.
Given how challenging it
is to work with over a hundred children, I must also commend the director and
her team for believing in these children and giving them the opportunity, a
rare one that many other children don’t have, to express themselves artistically.
They gave me an amazing
and magical Saturday evening and for this, they have earned themselves a lifetime
patron!
I really look forward to
watching their next magical production!
