Showing posts with label John ADEkoje. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John ADEkoje. Show all posts
Thursday, February 12, 2009
A Yoruba spiritual elder (played by Dion Davis) performs a cleansing ceremony for them, not sure if it will work. “He is afraid his rituals no longer serve his people who are now spread throughout the world,” said the play’s director, John Heckel. “He’s afraid they’re losing their connection with their African roots of culture, tradition and history. So he’s afraid he will never be able to fly again, because his flying depends on these rituals working.”
Facing such truths can be dangerous, and that’s the role of ritual. “I think one of the things the playwright is saying is that a connection with their African ancestry, history, mythology and tradition can provide a container and a safety net,” director Heckel said, “so they can look at some of the darker sides of their stories.”
JAGUN FLY: The Playwright
Playwright John ADEkoje is a graduate of the HSU Department of Theatre, Film and Dance. He originally came to HSU to study filmmaking, but dramatic writing program director Margaret Thomas Kelso convinced him to try writing plays. “So it’s her fault,” he said.
It seems to be paying off. Now living in Boston, his play Shoeshine Safari is scheduled for production by the Providence Black Repertory Theatre, and his rock musical will be produced next year at the Boston Playwrights Theatre. He is currently an artist in residence at the University of Massachusetts in Boston (where another play is in process) and he teaches playwriting and film at the Boston Arts Academy.
Jagun Fly began as three short plays, one of which ADEkoje wrote while at HSU. “It was called 'Love Jones,' about a kid talking to a gun about death.” In two other plays after that, “I kept playing with this idea of a mother, a father and a son who are estranged from each other, where communication is a problem.”
That related to the African Diaspora, with people separated all over the world and not able to communicate with each other. “I used the estranged family to talk about that issue.”
But it was after watching a play in New York that he realized how to bring all three plays together. “That play used the Yoruba tradition. I use it in a different way, but I noticed this was something I was doing in all my plays. It dawned on me that there was a connection between them. So I just sat down and tried to combine the three plays into one, with the ritual behind it.”
It seems to be paying off. Now living in Boston, his play Shoeshine Safari is scheduled for production by the Providence Black Repertory Theatre, and his rock musical will be produced next year at the Boston Playwrights Theatre. He is currently an artist in residence at the University of Massachusetts in Boston (where another play is in process) and he teaches playwriting and film at the Boston Arts Academy.
Jagun Fly began as three short plays, one of which ADEkoje wrote while at HSU. “It was called 'Love Jones,' about a kid talking to a gun about death.” In two other plays after that, “I kept playing with this idea of a mother, a father and a son who are estranged from each other, where communication is a problem.”
That related to the African Diaspora, with people separated all over the world and not able to communicate with each other. “I used the estranged family to talk about that issue.”
But it was after watching a play in New York that he realized how to bring all three plays together. “That play used the Yoruba tradition. I use it in a different way, but I noticed this was something I was doing in all my plays. It dawned on me that there was a connection between them. So I just sat down and tried to combine the three plays into one, with the ritual behind it.”
Having been reminded by director John Heckel that the competition was coming up for the HSU New Plays Season held every three years, he entered this play—“And I kind of won.”
JAGUN FLY: Our Cast
Dion Davis, Thomas Tucker, Siray Rodgers and Natasha Harrell, at an early rehearsal.
Oyaba: Natasha Harrell
Oba: Thomas Tucker
Omo Alade: Siray Ronta' Rodgers
Babalawo: Dion Davis
Oba: Thomas Tucker
Omo Alade: Siray Ronta' Rodgers
Babalawo: Dion Davis
JAGUN FLY: Our Production
Props Designer Mason Lev tests the rigging. Click photo for bigger image.Playwright: John Oluwole ADEkoje
Director: John Heckel
Music: Missy Hopper
Stage Manager: Christina Focht
Set Designer: Amanda Cordell
Lighting Designer: Calder Johnson
Technical Director: Henry Echeverria
Sound/Media: Michelle Cartier
Properties Designer: Mason Lev
Costume Designer : Amy Echeverria
Shadow Puppets: Perry Cage, Claire Smith
Hair/Make-up: Natasha Harrell
Dramaturg: Alex Gradine
Prop/Set Advisor: Jody Sekas
Costume Advisor: Rae Robison
Costume Shop Advisor: Catherine Brown
Scene Shop Supervisor: Jayson Mohatt
Scene Shop Graduatee Supervisor: Allyson Beltramo
Photography: Kellie Brown
Publicity/blog copy & design: Bill Kowinski
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