Courtesy of EURWeb.com
*With a minimalist set and three young actors, this play needed a dynamic script to keep the audience engaged and that is exactly what Arinze Kene delivers to an award winning standard. The interconnected narrative of Kehinde (Fiston Barek), Joanne (Seroca Davis) and Rugrat (Akemnji Ndifornyen) is interspersed as monologues. Through the eyes of these teenagers the circle of life is explored.
Part of the London via Lagos festival at Oval House, the concentric characters are united around pivotal rites of passage which mark their coming of age. Be it Kehinde’s bereavement, Rugrat’s gang-related dilemmas or Joanne’s brush with familial mental illness.
Each character is as attractive as the magnets that Joanne speaks about. They are familiar not because they are stereotypes or unoriginal, but because they are true. In powerful verse, teenage tongues twist tales of ascent into adulthood into sage advice: “Be young, you can’t forget to be young, so be young, but don’t forget to grow.”
With writing by Kene (who was awarded most promising new playwright at the 2011 Offies) and Direction by Ché Walker that is so alive, the actors could slack on performing but the commitment and passion from the young cast plunges the audience further into their world of playground fights, love and loss.
Without preaching, Kene takes the audience on an emotional journey. We grow with the characters learning from their life lessons. The cultural heritage of these characters hovers over them like a force of nature. At times raining down with tradition other times shining with anchors to identity.
By the end of the play when the characters go on literal or figurative pilgrimage, they begin to find themselves, no longer babes but reborn. Inspired by Kene’s own school pilgrimage as a child, the aptly named Little Baby Jesus has a message for us all.
Little Baby Jesus continues until Wednesday 15th June 2011 show starts at 7.45PM. Tickets are £14.00 concessions £7.00.
For more information visit http://www.ovalhouse.com/
The UK Corner covers urban entertainment from a British perspective and is written by Fiona McKinson ©. She is a freelance journalist and creative writer based in London. Contact her at info@thetalentshow.co.uk
Democracy Now! “Furkan Had a Huge Heart”: Ahmet Dogan On His Son, Killed One Year Ago in Gaza Flotilla Raid
Posted In Democracy Now
Courtesy of Democracy Now!
On the first anniversary of Israel’s deadly attack on the Gaza-bound aid ship, the Mavi Marmara, we feature an interview with Ahmet Dogan, the father of Turkish-American, Furkan Dogan, the youngest of nine activists killed in the raid.
Furkan Dogan was born in Troy, New York, and moved to Turkey when he was two years old. An autopsy showed that on May 31, 2010, he was shot at close range, once in the chest and four times in the head.
For additional coverage, click here to search the Democracy Now! archive for "flotilla."
THMS HOTMAIL: DEGREES OF TRUTH
Posted In Uncategorized
Dear THMS
I have been dating a young lady for about 4 months. I’m 28 and she’s 27. I recently lost my job and I and looking for a new one. She is supportive of me looking for a new job but she’s also suggesting that I become a teacher. She knows that black male teachers are in high demand and she really feels like I can make a difference in the community. The only problem with that is, I don’t have a college degree and she is under the assumption that I do have one. When we met, and would have conversations about each other, She asked where I went to school and I told her. She then asked, when I left and I told her that too. The truth is, I did leave that school and city 4 years later but I was and I am still about 30 credits shy of graduating. The way she worded the question, allowed me to answer it honestly but I’m almost sure she took it as me being a college graduate and I know she loves that. I have a feeling that if I tell her she won’t want to be with me anymore.
Should I tell her I do not have a degree or secretly go forth with my plan of finishing my degree at night school starting this summer?
Lamar from Va. Beach
Courtesy of EURWeb.com
*It’s all over for the Shaq-ster. Shaquille O’Neal tweeted today that he’s over and done with as a basketballer after 19 seasons in the NBA.
“We did it. 19 years baby. I want to thank you very much,” he said in a video posted Twitter on Wednesday. “That’s why I’m telling YOU I’m about to retire. Love you. Talk to you soon.”
O’Neal, 39, was with six pro teams: The (Orlando) Magic, (Los Angeles) Lakers, (Miami) Heat, (Cleveland) Cavaliers, (Phoenix) Suns and the (Boston) Celtics.
O’Neal also released four rap albums and starred several movies and TV reality shows. He was also officially sworn in as a Miami Beach police officer in 2005.
On the personal side, he was married to Shaunie Nelson (“NBA Wives” creator/producer) in 2002, but they separated in 2007 … got back together, and then for divorce in 2009. The marriage produced 4 children.
Courtesy of Democracy Now!
While most in the United States were recognizing Memorial Day with a three-day weekend, the people of Honduras were engaged in a historic event: the return of President Manuel Zelaya, 23 months after he was forced into exile at gunpoint in the first coup in Central America in a quarter-century.
While he is no longer president, his peaceful return marks a resounding success for the opponents of the coup. Despite this, the post-coup government in Honduras, under President Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo, is becoming increasingly repressive, and is the subject this week of a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, signed by 87 members of the U.S. Congress, calling for suspension of aid to the Honduran military and police.
As the only U.S. journalist on Zelaya’s flight home, I asked him how he felt about his imminent return. “Full of hope and optimism,” he said. “Political action is possible instead of armaments. No to violence. No to military coups. Coups never more.”
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