Category Archives: African Stories

David Livingstone show looms!

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‘I Knew A Man Called Livingstone’ -

The story of Scotland’s great explorer from the perspective of his African friends!

It’s been  long time coming but this Saturday 16th March, we are performing our first show of David Livingstone! It’s on at the Scottish Storytelling Centre at 2pm and we’d love to see you there!

What’s it about? Well, I must confess I didn’t know much about Livingstone at the beginning of last year but his story is such a fascinating one that spans so many areas of interest – medicine, religion, geography, culture, etc that it is difficult to know where to even begin his story! Born into a working class family who worked in the Blantyre cloth mills, between work, he’d find time to read and was inspired by previous Scottish explorers. He went to study after work (and he was just a young boy) then ended up convincing his father that actually medicine wasn’t such a terrible thing and it wouldn’t interfere in his faith. He ended up as a missionary in Southern Africa and that’s when he found his hearts true desire….to travel and explore.

 


We’ve got the FANTASTIC Isla Menzies and Ncuti Gatwa starring and it’s been directed by Annie George.

Playing different characters, the 2 performers unfold what made Livingstone so different to the other explorers/missionaries of his time. We meet people such as the wonderful princess Manenko who stood up to Livingstone. We also meet Chief Sechele, his only convert, the Arab traders to whom Livingstone was often indebted, Susi and Chuma his loyal converts who carried his body from the village of Ilala to the coast where it as sent to England!

This journey was extraordinary! 1500 miles, 8 months, 80 people, 12 of whom died en route in order for the doctors body to follow tradition and be returned to the land of his ancestors.

Truly remarkable! Gets you thinking about what people may possibly do for you when your time is up! Livingstone was not an easy man but he treated people with kindness and respect most of the time, but could often lose his temper. He was not a leader of men and was often criticised for his dangerous attitude to the expedition! But there was something special about him. If you think you know what drove Livingstone, then get in touch and let us know!

Toto x

 

Where do we find stories?

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So, where are the hunting grounds for some ripe, juicy stories huh! Well, over the years I’ve been inspired by a mountain of different things. Sometimes, a wee storytelling session develops into an idea that will not go away!

This Saturday 15th December, The Igbo Society of Glasgow is meeting, and I will be telling stories. I LOVE this, because it is so important for people living away from the countries of origin to still maintain links with that cultural heritage. For their children to be exposed to the language, other children who share their heritage, see their parents communicating and sharing memories, even if it’s a collective one, passed down from grandparents.

Now because the audience will be mainly of Igbo descent, I feel it’s important that I make a genuine effort to embrace that culture, despite it being very different from my own. That means asking Igbo friends  if they know anyone with stories or folktales or even just name of people and the significance so you can develop a story that will appeal to the Igbo culture and create that familiarity that can make a story from ‘home’ unite people who live so far away. The language, the dress, the expressions that take place all lend to escaping this life and returning to somewhere beautiful where memories of family and friends come flooding back. Also for me, it means that for a while you delve into another world. Just see some of the incredible hairstyles featured in these pics. Just beautiful! Also puts certain things into context when you go beyond the story and find an opportunity to really get into another persons shoes.

I found this lovely website http://www.oraifite.com with a host of lovely stories from the Igbo tradition. So, I can use this fountain of knowledge to build up the stories and transform them in a live storytelling session. Getting stories first hand from a person enables you to get a feel for the language. How to round your lips and properly pronounce the names, to really get your head around the rhythm of a phrase. How to put in an ‘ah ah’ at the right place, mimicking their cultural norms. If it works brilliant, if not then at least some hilarity will be provided by someone trying out a new culture.

Hey, we live and learn. Who knows? Sometimes, that random story you heard a few years ago could one day turn into a beautiful production, lovingly retold for generations to come. Have a look at that site and let me know which story was your favourite.

Toto love

x

TYI WARA TRAILER

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CLICK HERE TO SEE TYI WARA – EARTH HERO TRAILER

So it’s taken a little while to get here, but here is a tiny trailer from our Tyi Wara show. Of course, there is plenty more but just to give you a little flavour. Hope you enjoy it! Click link above to view.

Please leave a comment below to let us know what you think. That would be much appreciated!

Toto love

x

 

 

 

Can Kids get Serious?

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IT’S THE END OF THE HOLIDAYS!!! so for the last few days, I have told at a number of storytelling sessions/activities and taken my 4 year old daughter to a few too. After a few too many row your boats, I began to wonder why whenever young children are around (3-4 year olds), so many of us resort to the ‘twinkle, twinkle little star’ and ‘baa baa black sheep’ favourites? Is it because we are comfortable that they [the little ones] will be comfortable? The familiar is safe and so we don’t need to challenge ourselves too much?

Now, it’s not that I don’t like these rhymes or feel that we should never use them, I do myself on occasion… but my worry is that many people believe that young children are simply incapable of handling ‘bigger’ stories. If you have ever had the pleasure of seeing the incredible piece of theatre ‘WHITE’ by Catherine Wheels, then you will know that stories seep into the soul regardless of age. Any two year old will have recognised the extreme injustice so perfectly demonstrated.

I believe choosing the stories we expose our children to is immensely important. Long before school as we now know it existed, our education everything we thought, believed, aspired to, etc was brought about through stories. our focus on stories from across Africa, I wish that children will be as familiar with Anansi the spider as they are with the Gruffalo. I wish that their dreams would involve outwitting cunning Sungura (Hare) and celebrating the wisdom of tortoise. I wish they would grow knowing why Dedan Kimathi fought as he did, who was Queen Nzinga of Angola and that they wonder where the Golden Stool of the Ashanti really came from. The incredible stories of the orishas from the Yoruba. The dense layers of these stories are rich in content, so full of wonder and quite simply beautiful to listen to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A storytelling friend of mine of Indian origin, Malaysian upbringing and currently resident in Singapore told me how her father introduced the great epic Mahabharat to her from a very young age.

An immense story, a epic saga that scholars have difficulty interpreting. She remembers at the age of 3 or 4, her father sitting down at breakfast and feeding her the tiniest little tidbits from the story, that when pieced together many years later, revealed the full story. Sitting down with a three year old and recounting hours of story will not work but  by letting little seeds settle deep inside, he ensured that those seeds were nurtured and did grow. These BIG stories are necessary to give our children a greater sense of the world around us. Do they get it? Probably better than many grown ups!

I was horrified to hear a squeaky clean adaptation of The Little Red Hen story a few evenings ago. In the new version, the hardworking character feels sorry for those other poor lazy souls and decides to share her cake, or whatever it was with them. EXCUSE ME!!!!!!! What is going on? Yes, charity is a great thing but we are sending mixed signals, allowing them to think that certain behaviours are acceptable, when they most certainly are not.

Let us not be afraid to share bigger stories with tiny people. The way we tell it may be different but the essence will get through and difficult though it may be, we need to acknowledge that sometimes it’s a good thing for our children to experience stories that are not the Disneyfied, singing, clapping happy type.

Do you think they CAN deal with more? Let me know what you think.

Toto x

 

Black people don’t DO theatre!

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When I first started Toto Tales I shouldn’t have been surprised to find out that I was in fact a genuine bona fide ‘ethnic’. But yup! That is just what I am and will be positioned for quite some time too I imagine. There are not many ‘ethnics’ working in the arts in Scotland for a number of reasons but those that do, are utterly passionate about it and sacrifice earning a reasonable wage, potential peace of mind and a real job in the pursuit of creating something incredible.

This afternoon, there was a meeting at Creative Scotland with some of the companies in Scotland that work with minority groups. Some of us were ‘ethnic companies’ and others worked with disabled people. Nevertheless we were all there to share our experiences.

Christine Hamilton (no…another one) was leading the discussion and was genuinely charming and interested. There was plenty of discussion around the issues faced by us companies in our endeavours – funding, touring, audiences, expectations, etc – and hope that in future, Creative Scotland will further support a hugely valuable part of Scottish culture.

Those represented were Wave Theatre, Solar Bear, Ankur Productions, Lung Ha, Birds of Paradise and of course us Toto Tales.

Plenty of questions raised – One of these was audiences and actually our audience is mainstream. Infact, it’s great when there is someone of African descent in the audience. Something we discussed that I felt was important is the issue of Role Models: There are too few positive role models of African heritage working in the Scottish art scene today. So what do we do? Bring them up from down South? Develop them up here? If we do train then what jobs are available? Hmmmm! None! So actually, it is difficult to see how this can be resolved before we’re all deid and it’s our children’s turn.

Still on role models…while I acknowledge the wonderful work that Ankur do, it is a shame that the first leading role for an African woman, created in Scotland in absolutely ages, is one where she is brutalised both physically and sexually. I honestly feel we need to provide better, stronger role models for our young people. Not just people of African heritage but for everyone else too. I want my daughter to know her worth, to know there are things worth fighting for. I want her to hear stories of Tyi Wara, Queen Nzinga, Julius Nyerere, Prof Wangari Maathai and she will, whether she wants to or not.

Storytelling and theatre are such powerful ways of absorbing information, challenging your own perception, generating discussion, meeting ridiculously interesting people, etc, that for me, it is a real shame that there are so few black faces both in the audience and on the stage. Of course its not just black people who don’t do theatre and of course there are many reasons why people don’t/can’t go but it would be great for us to begin to ask those questions and then DO something to change this, because there are lots of amazing things happening and there are lots of people who are missing out.

In the meantime Toto Tales will continue to do what we do, which  is to find and create these wonderful stories then explore ways of sharing them. My hope is that people from every sphere will see them, take something from them, enjoy them, start talking about them and be inspired by them.

I have been to schools around Scotland where not one kid can tell me the name of a great, inspiring, powerful individual from Africa. Not 1!!! That’s a real tragedy.

That’s your challenge too. How many names can we come up with right here and now?

Toto love x

Incredible Storytelling/Musical Fusion at Celtic Connections

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BREAKING NEWS!!!!

A first in Scottish Arts for years!!!!! And we are part of it!!!

That renowned Scottish festival Celtic Connections is back again and their 2012 program is just phenomenal. The forward thinking programmers have sourced fantastic performers from around the world and they agreed to put on two incredible performances where powerful storytelling is accompanied by a live orchestra. Of course these are among the not to be missed shows this year so….put these dates in the diary (My performance is on the Friday):

February 3rd and 4th, 8pm at the Glasgow Art Rooms, Tix:£10

The production ‘Voices in Scotland’ has been a work in progress of storyteller/musician Marion Kenny for the last 5 years.

Essentially she has pulled together a fantastically tight team of talented storytellers, singers and musicians. High calibre storytellers such as the late Stanley Robertson, Japanese teller Mio Shapley, moi Mara Menzies of Toto Tales, Claire McNicol, Marion Kenny and Chuck Warren are united with astounding musicians (hold your breath)… Mairi Campbell (her version of Auld Lang Syne featured in the last Sex and the City film, Dougie Hudson of Salsa Celtica, Eilidh Shaw, Jamie Kenny, Joel Sanderson, Sandy Wright, Andy Cooke, Stuart Dinwoodie, and Pete Vilk, Mary Macmaster, Donald Hay, Leo McCann, Eddie McGuire, Teresa Brookes {formerly Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers} and Lucy Searle, {Isho Taiko Drummers} Phew!!!!

For all ages, but the 8pm start prob means the tiddlers will be in lala land, we head off to the world of legend and myth. Imagine….a rumbling of thunder as crack, crack, crack, the sky parts and an enormous Baobab, the Tree of Life descends to provide shade to the people of the world. The law forbids man from making any connection with heaven but what happens when one young man’s insane curiosity forces him to disobey? With the ngoni, marimba, water drums, electric guitar, thumb piano, shekere, endingidi, djembe and inanga all playing a role, it will be an event to remember.

It promises an incredible evening of stories, music and ballads from Scotland and around the World so really hope you can make it!! Spread the word!

Toto love x

Creating a show (part 2)

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So, it has been a while since the first blog was posted and things have been happening. We have our premiere booked:

It is part of the Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace Festival (MESP) 2012. Our venue is the wonderful, beautiful, intimate Scottish Storytelling Centre on the 29th February at 19:00.

What we have been up to: Well, the script is almost done. Just a few tweakings and also the cast has gone up one person. Because the production is pulling together two different Tyi wara related stories from the ancient past and a more modern interpretation, I felt it was best to have the traditional call and response style storytelling. I had thought of bouncing off the musician but he is a musician and not a storyteller and also as English is not his first or even second language, that was a consideration too. In fact, we aim to capitalise on his wealth of West African language Wolof and Bambara, by incorporating it into the story. So, the musician shall play, the dancer shall dance and storyteller number 2 shall be incorporated. Wonderful.

We have applied for a small grant from Awards for All but like most things, we never know whether we shall be successful. Fingers crossed the answer is yes, but as with all other Toto Tales productions, the show must go on. If there is zero budget then of course, we shall have to be extremely imaginative with the set design to ensure, the overdraft doesn’t get out of control. We have one show booked and we are trying to get others once we hear from the funding body we shall have a better idea of where next to proceed. Please, please send good thoughts this way as we can reach so many more people with this show, if it is done properly. There is also the chance of taking it to the Fringe Festival in the summer too. Again something to look forward to.

In the meantime, what we are working on is: ideas for the set design. Finding interesting ways of seaming the scenes together. I have no idea about timing just yet but we’ll work that out later, once we know which bits work best. First rehearsal beginning of January :)

We’ll keep you posted. Anything you think we should incorporate into the piece. Do let us know. Also, we intend to travel around Scotland if we are lucky enough to get the grant so if you think the show would suit where you are, do drop us a quick line.

Toto love

x

African Storytelling on Orkney, the Scottish isles

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I was invited up to Orkney to visit some of the local schools as part of Black History Month and so this morning, I packed my props, my stuff, promptly forgot the camera and headed to the airport. I jumped on a plane and 50 minutes later found myself above the glistening jewels that are the Orkney Islands.

These tiny islands are far flatter than I had imagined unlike their Western counterparts. While the Isle of Skye is rugged with it’s crags jutting out ominous and brooding in the clouds, Orkney islands are flat and stretch out to a landscape littered with farmhouses, haystacks and fishing villages.

I am staying with the wonderful Sweyn and Jenny who I found through couchsurfing and their pointer Hamish and 2 cats, whose names I’ve suddenly forgotten. I was picked up by Frazer Campbell at the airport who works with the equalities unit of the police and has basically been the instigator of my trip here (thank you Frazer).

Jenny and I went to the local shop (Tesco!) and then she took me on a whilrwnd tour of Kirkwall and the surrounds. Luckily for me, she is a history teacher at Stromness and therefore packed full of information surrounding the local history. We drove over the Churchill Barrier causeways that were built by the Italian prisoners of war during the second world war following a horrendous attack on the harboured British fleet by a German U-Boat that resulted in the deaths of 600 young men and boys. This sparked the building of the causeways to protect the harbour which was located in a perfect geographical position and was fertile enough to feed the 30000 extra army folk who set up home during the war.

Then she took me to see the Sicilian chapel, an old Nissan hut lovingly and beautifully painted with images of the Virgin Mary and all sorts of cheaply available materials-plaster, cement used imaginatively to mimic the incredible Italian cathedrals. Attention to detail was unbelievable and like Michaelangelo, the POW whose vocation was to complete it took years of hard work and determination. An incredible result!

Tomorrow I shall be visiting one of the schools in Kirkwall and over the next few days, I shall be catching a ferry across to Hoy to see another school and then an 11 minute flight to Sanday island north of the mainland for another. Very exciting! My walk around Kirkwall was lovely with the ancient St. Magnus cathedral and the tourist shops and walking around the harbour is always lovely. I bought Orkney cheese and delicious sounding smoked tomato chutney….delicious!

Now, off to think about what could be done tomorrow as well as a bit more thought on the Tyi Wara script.

Has anyone else visited an island recently or not so recent? Let me know your views on island life.

Toto love

Mara x


How to create a storytelling show!

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Over the next few weeks we are going to be creating a brand new production from scratch, so will be posting some blogs on the process that we go through from idea to performance.

So you have a great story in mind – maybe from a book, a story you once heard or purely from your imagination….

The one we hope to work on is a legend from the Bambara people of Mali. It is of the Tyi Wara/ Chiwara (spellings differ) and is an incredibly powerful story of a hero who came to teach the Bambara people how to farm their land and live successfully. It is loaded with messages concerning the environment, the benefits of working and making the most of social cooperation. It is a beautiful story and with so much magical mythology and potency, we are incredibly excited about how to go about creating a performance of it.

We would like to collaborate this time, ideally with a musician (who can play traditional Malian instruments like the kora and ngoni) and a contemporary dancer (although one rooted in West African dance preferably)

So we have the basic idea and our wonderful Claire Footitt is busily making sure that our pitch is perfect and the funders can see the benefits of touring this show around Scotland. In the mean time, I am working on a few questions … and deciding on the chronology. Do we go from traditional beginning to end or do we play with the choreography? Do we work with three or more or less? Use of multimedia?

This is definitely the most exciting part of the creation because there are so many ways this could go. If you are at the same stage then let your imagination go crazy. Most of your ideas will be quickly swept away, because they probably won’t fit logistically or they just be a tad silly :) Nevertheless, keep plugging away and explore the impossible because sometimes the strangest ideas are often the best. So here we are at the lovely bit. Will keep you posted on where we end up next ;)

Good luck story creating and let us know what kinds of stories you are up to.

Toto love

Mara x

Juggling Motherhood And Performing On The Stage

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Under The Baobab Tree, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2011

The show is in full swing, the audience are warmed up and giving it gusto, you’ve prepped them, they’re hovering in anticipation to what’s coming next when….’mummy’, that tiny familiar voice pops up from somewhere in the audience…’why are you wearing that ostrich?’

Ah yes…every parent performer has experienced their child heckling at some point or another unless they’ve been wise enough to keep the kids well away but with childrens theatre it is unthinkable not to bring the kids along.

Imani (who’s almost 4) has seen ‘Under the Baobab Tree’ 3 times now, is addicted to the songs and has almost learned the script by heart, is now fully capable of shouting out the punchline just before you give it, informing the audience of how the story ends and if you commit the crime of forgetting a word…beware….she will correct you! Right there and then.

So why do we allow these tiny terrors into our theatres, our performance spaces? What benefits are there? Well, for me, it’s when the festival is gone and we sit on a tree stump in the Botanic Gardens and I lie back and am entertained by a rather brilliant almost 4 year old raconteur.

Toto love

Mara x

PS: Any funny kids stories that you have been told? Let us know here:)