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Theater festival offers solace in violence-torn Burkina Faso

Theater festival offers solace in violence-torn Burkina Faso

The last three years have been difficult for Fanta Charlotte Dabone, a mother of three living in the conflict-torn West African country of Burkina Faso.

OUGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — The last three years have been difficult for Fanta Charlotte Dabone, a conflict-torn mother of three. West African country Burkina Faso.

After an attack by extremists, she fled her village, leaving her husband and farm behind. Since then, she has been moving from place to place, struggling to pay the rent and buy enough food for her children, including a 2-year-old.

But last month she became queen.

Every day for a week, she, along with dozens of Burkinabe men and women displaced by extreme violence, twirled, danced and chanted for almost two hours in front of captivated audiences at Recreatrales, an international theater festival held in Ouagadougou. capital of the country.

“I’m very happy about that,” he said. “I don’t even know how to explain how I feel.”

Burkina Faso, a landlocked country of 23 million people in the Sahel, an arid strip south of the Sahara, was known for its vibrant arts scene and sophisticated craftsmanship, including its famous film and theater festivals.

However, in recent years the country has become a symbol of the security crisis in the region. It has been wracked by violence from extremist groups and government forces fighting them, many of which spilled over the border into Mali, and two subsequent military coups.

The military junta, which came to power by force in 2022, could not provide the stability it promised. Instead, the situation has gotten worse: More than 60% of the country is now beyond government control, according to conservative estimates, more than 2 million people have lost their homes, and almost 6.5 million need humanitarian assistance to survive.

The country’s leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, has established a de facto censorship system in which critics of the regime disappear or are forcibly recruited and even friends are afraid to discuss politics with each other.

However, despite everything, last month the Bougsemtenga district of the capital turned into a festival area that will host Recreatrales for the 13th time.

Bougsemtenga takes its name from “boughtenga”, which means “zone of happiness” in the local Moorean language. True to its origins, this year its streets have transformed into a dreamlike universe that resembles a cross between a traditional village festival and “Alice in Wonderland.” The bitter truth, even if only for a short time.

Improvised theater stages were built in people’s courtyards. The streets were decorated with colorful lights and abstract sculptures made by locals from plastic bottles and pieces of wax-printed fabric. Residents set up hand-decorated stands selling beer and meat sticks to multinational theatergoers, from Western diplomats to local handymen. The ticket booth looked like a giant frog with its mouth wide open.

Artistic director of the festival, Aristide Tarnagda, said that he believed that the festival should take place as planned, despite the insecurity surrounding the country.

Tarnagda said the theater was an affirmation of “the priority of life over death.” He added that coming together to perform and watch theater productions is a form of resistance against hardship and violence. Therefore, this year’s theme was “Turn your face to the sun”.

“People are capable of love and freedom, but sometimes they forget,” he said. “The role of theater is to remind them of that.”

The festival, held every two years, is the culmination of a year of work the organizers have done with residents of the Bougsemtenga district, which was home to two theaters and a theater association even before the first Recreatrales in 2002.

They run arts workshops, including writing, theatre, dance and stage drawing, for young people from the region and across Africa, and run mentoring sessions and business skills classes for local women. Odile Sankara, director of the festival, said the aim was to include as many people as possible.

“This is a working-class area,” Sankara said. “We want to encourage people to be interested in art, to taste art.”

“Art is a powerful weapon to fight for more light, more humanity and more love,” he added, especially as his country and the entire Sahel region are going through a security and humanitarian crisis.

Claude Ilboudo, 30, from Bougsemtenga has been performing as a dancer at the opening ceremonies of Recreatrales since its first edition. He used to work as a glazier and dancing was his past time. But Ilboudo’s life changed five years ago when he seriously injured his right hand at work and could no longer do his job.

That’s when Ilboudo discovered his passion for theater and started working for the association Recreatrales. “Theater saved me,” he said. “It made me discover what I could do.”

This year, Ilboudo was part of the team that prepared the opening play with internally displaced actors from scratch, including concept, script and choreography. It was also the first time he had personally interacted with people who had been forced to flee their homes due to extreme violence.

Artistic director Sankara said that for internally displaced people, theater is not just a therapeutic tool to help them recover from trauma. This is a way for an excluded and isolated group in Burkinabe society to be seen by others.

During the play, Dabone, a displaced mother of three, stood in the middle of the stage with her toddler strapped to her back and spat out a long, white strip of paper. He said it symbolized all the unforgettable thoughts that left his body. But the question remains: for how long?

“Life is very difficult,” he said. “But when I get on stage, I feel joy. “All these thoughts come to my mind when I have to go back home.”

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