the sankofa trilogy is d’bi.young anitafrika’s offering to her mother who taught her dubpoetry. to her grandmother who taught her resilience. to jamaica who taught her black is beautiful. to canada who taught her wombanism. and to the world who is teaching her love.
the sankofa trilogy features three extraordinary stories of three powerful women—mugdu sankofa, her daughter sekesu and her granddaughter benu—and their resolute belief in blood and truth. At the heart of this trilogy—and much of d’bi.young’s work—are the spirit of sankofa (“return and get it”), and the mythical sankofa bird of the Ashanti, with its head turned backwards, holding an egg (the future) in its beak. Weaving together pieces of her own life with the herstory and mythology of her Jamaican heritage, d’bi.young anitafrika’s one woman performance brings a cast of characters on the stage, each with his or her distinct personality and voice.
blood.claat (part one of the trilogy)
mugdu sankofa, a fifteen-year-old girl from Kingston, Jamaica, begins her journey into womanhood under the watchful gaze of her granny. With her mother gone to Canada, Mugdu chafes against the limitations imposed on her by her grandmother’s generation – even as she looks to her ancestors for strength. Like her mother and grandmother before her, mugdu attempts to embrace her femininity as she navigates the perennial danger that plagues the young women in her family: pregnancy. blood.claat received two Dora awards in 2006.
blood.claat will be performed at 8 p.m. on November 23 and 27, and at 2:30 p.m. on November 26 and December 3, 2011.
benu (part two of the trilogy)
mugdu’s daughter sekesu a new mother. Painful memories of her upbringing – her separation from her mother – surface with the pregnancy and birth, and collide with her expectations of motherhood. Can she be the mother she never had? There is hope in her daughter, benu, named after the mythical Egyptian predecessor of the phoenix, which rises from its ashes.
benu will be performed at 8 p.m. on November 29, December 1, and December 3, 2011.
word!sound!powah! (part three of the trilogy)
Young dub poet benu sankofa is swept up in the violence of the infamous 1980 national election in Jamaica. The country is on the cusp of a political coup, and in the heat of the struggle between young radicals and the establishment, benu is accused of involvement in a political assassination. Amidst all the corruption and turmoil, who will stand up for the land they love? benu ultimately finds strength in her maternal ancestors to fight for the freedom she believes in, with her courage and dub poetry as her primary tools.
word!sound!powah! in repertory with blood.claat and benu in Tarragon’s Extra Space.
I have seen two out of the three in this trilogy and highly recommend you see them all. They are powerful, moving and personal. I really like the fact that d’bi.young likes to host informal question and answer period after her performances; she’s done it at SummerWorks and will do so after each of the performances at The Tarragon.
word!sound!powah! previews begin October 22, opens November 4 and runs to December 4, 2011. Tickets range from $20-45 (inclusive of HST) and are available by calling the box office at 416-531-1827 or by visiting www.tarragontheatre.com
