HIV – the movie!
Patrick Masakoi works for the Sierra Leone Red Cross. He describes how they are using theatre and film to teach local tribes about HIV/Aids and other issues (Photo: Actor and development worker Patrick Masakoi (left), with colleague. Photograph: Susan Schulman)
I am the communication officer of the Sierra Leone International Committee of the Red Cross. At the same time, I am a volunteer for the SL Red Cross society, as a playwrite, director and artist for the Red Cross drama group. I started doing this after I was inspired by watching an artist friend’s performance in one of our cinemas. I was moved by it. Later, I approached him and asked how one could become a member of the drama group. He said it was enough to just come along for the rehearsals – first it is about attendance and commitment. After that, I first began attending the meetings and rehearsals, then enrolled as a Red Cross volunteer in 1986, then registered as a member of the Red Cross drama group.
I never knew I had skills in theatre, but my first experience made me realise how much I could do on stage. I loved it. After that we were called to attend theatre workshops that took place in Freetown at the British Council, organised by the Western District Theatre Union. We entered a competition and I won the award for the Best Artist. This gave me the opportunity and privilege to attend a workshop in playwriting and directing organised by veteran artists.
Theatre has been a central entertainment for the Sierra Leone people, especially in the evening hours. Theatre has a long history here. As far as I know, theatre started back in the 1930’s. At that time, they worked on the classics, performed a lot of Shakespeare, worked from books etc. They also drew heavily on Sierra Leonian traditional acting, like entertaining people in the evening. During a long party or at weddings, performers would be called upon to entertain the guests. But theatre has also been used as a vehicle to discuss issues, such as projecting the corrupt practices of politicians. That is why as far back as the 1970’s and 80’s, some theatre groups were banned because they exposed the government. Doing this sort of political theatre has a very long tradition here. When we experienced war in the early 1990’s, we started using theatre as a central vehicle to reach people on issues – on health issues, environmental issues, on community issues.
Our group, the Sierra Leone Red Cross Drama Group educate the public on health issues, such as: the preventative measures and control of HIV/Aids; malaria; lassa; as well as disaster issues, floods and bush fires. It has helped a lot. We realised that workshops, symposiums, or conferences are not the only way to reach the people but using theatre (especially community theatre which is what we are mostly involved in) helps a lot because it allows us to bring information to the grass roots. We have brought the issues to the community through acting, drumming, singing, and traditional songs. If you educate people using traditional songs, that message can pipe down to every last person in the village because they can use the songs every day in their own traditional language. The songs serve as a reminder of whatever issue you want to raise.
Taking theatre into the provinces which is what we normally do, because we have about 14 different tribes in Sierra Leone. If we are targeting a particular region, we look at the tribe and the community and then design the play, taking into consideration the ethnicity of that region. So when we get there, we know we are using the language and the culture of that particular community, and the message will really sink in.
We are presently involved in what you call community theatre. We get on the streets and do performances right in the heart of the community. People come around and make a ring, they surround us. We stand inside the ring and carry out the performance. At a certain point, we freeze the narrator and explain the purpose of our performance, why we are there. We pose questions and encourage the audience to ask questions. When the audience asks questions, we ask them to join into the play and they become part of the theatre, and become actors. It is what we call ‘forum theatre’.
For my group, I write skits and most of the plays we perform, though there are four of us in the Red Cross Drama Group that write plays. The 80 theatre groups here are scattered all around. These days, what has most discouraged most theatre groups is that they used to operate on a commercial basis, carrying out performances and getting the takings, but now Nigerian films have flooded the market here and moved the attention of the populace from plays to films. Of course, DVDs mean that people can sit at home and watch. They now go to a ‘cinema’, which are rooms where they congregate to watch a film showing on DVD on a television, rather than watch theatre.
Cinema is overtaking the country’s long tradition of theatre. This has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage part of this is that we have seen our African sisters and brothers are now climbing the stage of filming. Therefore most theatre groups are involved (or are trying to be involved) in producing films. This has proved a great incentive and is stimulating the theatre culture. The disadvantage is that when you perform commercially, you cannot really expect very high proceeds. We have produced our first film now – about HIV/Aids, filmed entirely on location in both Freetown and in the provinces of Sierra Leone. I happened to be both the playwright and the leading actor, playing the role of the chief.
Patrick Masakoi was speaking to photographer Susan Schulman of The Guardian, UK
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