Back on the table, thank you
François Ebouélé entrusted author Penda Diouf with putting into words the life of Harriet Tubman, and he did well. She who manages to give life to an individual who died in 1913, and above all buried by history. If the Franco-Senegalese author relies on the “autobiography” of Harriet Tubman written with the help of Sarah Bradford in 1869, the author knows how to bring the necessary modernity which completes the writing of the first “white” biographer “.
Thus, despite the distance that separates us from the geographical reality of slavery, the words that Harriet/Edoxi addresses to us, often head-on, jump out at us with its urgency. François Ebouélé’s direction creates reminiscences of atmospheres, shadows that pass into the light of our ignorant consciences, much more than paintings – which is welcome, because we don’t need to be mimed slavery.
The singing tinged with blues, carried by Dominique Laroserecalls the one who accompanied the life of slaves, like a cadence at work, during fervent Sundays, too, busy dreaming of deliverance.
Samuel Beckett at the Martyrs with “End of Game”.
-Nothing is too much on stage: neither the words nor the gestures of violence, at times reformulated by the need to bear witness. The sound of the chicotte, this cowhide toy used by plantation foremen, will captivate the public. The demonstration is successful: the trio Harriet/Edoxi/François exposes, outside the shadow of history, a figure of the liberation of black people.
⇒”Harriet Tubman, – Passeuse de l’ombre”, from January 14 to 25, at the Océan Nord theater. Info and reservations: www.oceannord.org. There are still places available this Tuesday and Friday. We hurry.
