Children’s Text Messages to God: A musical in two acts

How many of us can remember our childhood days and the nostalgic feelings of innocence, of false judgement and particularly of joy and sorrow in a simple world made complicated by adults. Children’s Text Messages to God brings us back to those youthful days and revives our experience of joyful childhood and the old familiar clichés we were so attached to.

Six children in The Gambia meet for a “sleep over” at a friend’s house. Their imagination is triggered when the adults in the house urge them to say their prayers to God. A  fundamental question is raised: How can one communicate to God in this modern age of advanced technology and get one’s problems solved quickly? The children with ages ranging from nine to thirteen transport us to their world in two acts and seven scenes full of fun, joy, sadness and music. The audience will be enthralled and totally captivated throughout these scenes where love and marriage, birth and death, rights and responsibilities are central themes. Our main protagonists in the play, Angela, Baboucar, Daisy, Osseh, Adama and Hassoum, with support from eight other children fill up a colourful stage and entertain us with their talents and skills. It is their hope that they can find answers to some of the most crucial questions adults find hard to answer. Yet, innocence mingles with a little enlightenment and illuminates the children’s views. God surely answers to the text messages; but how? Eddie Mends-Cole will once again demonstrate his talents in choreography and Burang Goree-Ndiaye has composed special music for some of the songs. Under this excellent production team, a unique and exciting evening of entertainment is assured.

Aunty Janet Badjan-Young was inspired by a successful Broadway musical she read entitled Children’sLetters to God which was based on abook by Stuart Hample in which children wrote to God to pour out their earthly worries and concerns. She writes this play after engaging a few young children to write similar letters and discovering surprisingly, that children in our local context have completely different worries to those in the United States for example. Her themes having been identified, she organized a dance and drama workshop for children and provided them with the necessary acting and dancing skills for the play. Aunty Janet, with the diligence and stern attitude to perfection she is well known for, once again, produces a masterpiece in drama equalled to only the masters of drama in her generation.

Aunty Janet has produced excellent pieces of drama in the last decade to qualify her as the most brilliant Gambian dramaturge of our time. She is presently the Chairperson of the Governing Board for the National Centre for Arts and Culture. Some of her plays have stirred great emotions and have received loud accolade from masters of the theatre and experienced persons in the area of literature. She has set her mark and like all skilful dramaturge, she has taken pleasure in producing for the love of the theatre. Those who have seen The Battle of Sankandi staged in May 2002 at the Kairaba Hotel Conference Hall will remember Aunty Janet. It is a play based on the history of a battle between the indigenous people and the colonial masters caused by an unfortunate misunderstanding. Aunty Janet is also the producer and director of the brilliant drama, TheUltimate Inheritance that was finally funded and filmed in real life setting in English, Wolof and Mandingo for its excellent taste and strong message. TheUltimate Inheritance tries to portray a traditional inheritance practice, which has a negative influence on women. The play also gives an account of the stigma associated with the diseases and the care for those infected with HIV. Its film version, sponsored and filmed in real settings, has been projected throughout the country to sensitize people. Some of her other prominent works are the The Hand of Fate, a play about early marriage, A Man for All Seasons and Sizwe Banzi is Death, the last two adapted from the senior secondary school recommended literature textbooks written by Robert Bolt and Athol Fugard respectively. The first of the last two is a classic play centered on the struggle of a man of principles and strong belief against a King and the last play is about racism and identity crises among blacks in South Africa. The last play was staged at the Alliance Franco-Gambian on 2 and 3 May 2008. It is entitled The Dance of Katchikali and it told of the secret pool bearing its name in Bakau, and of the spirits of the pool and the Bojangs, custodians of the pool. It reminds us instantly of Dr Lenrie Peters, the poet surgeon, who passed away recently and who published a collection of poetry under that title.

In their desire to promote theater in The Gambia, The Troupe wishes to inform Gambians and Non-Gambians alike that the building of a small theater, the initial stage of their project “Youth Development in the Performing Arts” is already underway. Land was allocated three years ago by the Department of Local Government and Lands for the construction of a theater. Everyone, both in The Gambia and abroad, is urged to contribute to this laudable endeavour. Try reaching Aunty Janet on youngerjanet@hotmail.com or send a message to info@gamwriters.com. No contribution, be it cash or kind, is ever considered small.