Another Fela Anikulapo-Kuti musical
produced in Helsinki, Finland, is at the centre of a renewed burst of
enthusiasm for multicultural interaction, writes CHUX OHAI
The idea to create a musical based on
the life and works of late Afrobeat creator, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti,
originated from Kitari Mayele, the cultural producer of the
International Cultural Centre in Helsinki, Finland. By the end of
January, the plan to have the musical, which was already titled ‘Beats
of a BArD’s Country’, on the stage had been concluded. But there was an
immediate challenge: who would undertake the task of writing the script
for production?
Eventually, the choice fell on Charles
Ogu, a Nigerian writer resident in that country. Aware that he had a
difficult task in his hands and not knowing how to set about
accomplishing it, he was initially confused.
“I was totally amiss in which direction
to go as the script writer. How do you mount a Fela Kuti production in a
society that is totally foreign to English language, how much more
the dialect-pidgin?” he says, in an online interview with our
correspondent on Tuesday.
Ogu’s dilemma deepened as it became
obvious that no concrete plans were afoot. Moroccan born director,
Hossni Boudali (who played Fela), whose knowledge of Afrobeat music
was indisputable, blundered and thrashed in every direction as he was
made to undergo a short drill in Pidgin English and African
spirituality.
By the time that hurdle was finally
scaled, with some assistance from the producer of the musical,
Marjo-Sisko Lindstedt , getting the entire cast still posed a serious
challenge.
Then relief came after a certain Art school in Helsinki indicated an interest in the production.
“Suddenly, we had hundreds of people
willing to move their bodies and shake them to the rhythm of
Afrobeat. And by the time Aija Kauppanen, the choreographer, began
synthesizing and threading the dance steps (in concert with the
politically charged lyrics of Fela), a ‘comprehensive show’ was already
on the way, though without the usual ‘yabis’.
“CAISA created a flavour of African
communal life, an exotic mix of Somali, Congolese, Gambian and Nigerian
variants, complete with their cuisines in different stands. The result
was reminiscent of Kalakuta Republic, where things were shared in common
and food was eaten in groups,” Ogu says.
Most of the volunteers were Finnish
students and foreigners – asylum seekers to be precise, whose interests
were divergent. While some were genuinely drawn by the desire to learn
more about African culture, others saw the show as an opportunity to
meet more people and to get integrated in the cultural environment of
their hosts.
Ogu noted that certain events preceding
the final production had already raised public awareness of the musical.
For example, the Helsinki Sanomat, Finland’s largest circulating
newspaper, published a rave review of the final rehearsal and the
FaceBook page of the musical, tagged ‘Felaway’, was daily updated with
the events from the rehearsals, even as the public eagerly awaited
the show.
Still, there was one more hurdle to
scale. The organisers of the show realised that there was no official
approval from the copyright owners to ‘power’ the show, as it were.
Finland’s copyright authority would definitely not allow the show to
hold without an approval from from Fela’s family. So, Fela’s daughter
and eldest child, Yeni Kuti, was contacted and a formal request to
proceed on the production was put to her.
After a while, Yeni finally authorised
the show and there was jubilation among the cast and production crew of
the musical. Tickets were already sold out and over 680 people missed
seeing the show for want of tickets.
Ogu enthusiastically describes the
opening of the show on Friday, April 26, as signifying the birth of a
‘new Afrobeat’ in the Scandinavian country. The successful production of
the musical and its overwhelming reception, he adds, spells a positive
turn in Afro-Finnish cultural relations.
“Now, pidgin English has become a common
tongue among the cast of the musical, which comprises Finns and asylum
seekers, who wanted to find relevance with the immigration authority
by participating in a worthwhile project,” he notes.
Satisfied with his role in installing
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, now known among the Finnish as the ‘political
musician from Nigeria’, as the symbol of a much-needed cultural
affirmation in Finland and in advancing Afrobeat as an art form that
“voices a unique and powerful African essentialism”, Ogu is optimistic
that the voice of the late legend will, henceforth, rule the Finnish
music scene without end.
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