Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 6, No. 0280.  Monday, 10 April 1995.
 
(1)     From:   Daniel P. Tompkins <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Sunday, 9 Apr 1995 15:43:43 -0400 (EDT)
        Subj:   Bohannan caveat
 
(2)     From:   Naomi Liebler <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Sunday, 9 Apr 95 17:54:00 EST
        Subj:   RE: SHK 6.0279  Re: "Shakespeare in the Bush"
 
 
(1)----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Daniel P. Tompkins <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Sunday, 9 Apr 1995 15:43:43 -0400 (EDT)
Subject:        Bohannan caveat
 
The Bohannan essay is very interesting and useful, but it is essential to teach
it without condescending to or demeaning the Tiv and playing into Americans'
(and Canadians'?) racial stereotypes.
 
Dan Tompkins
 
(2)----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Naomi Liebler <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Sunday, 9 Apr 95 17:54:00 EST
Subject: 6.0279  Re: "Shakespeare in the Bush"
Comment:        RE: SHK 6.0279  Re: "Shakespeare in the Bush"
 
In view of renewed interest in Laura Bohannon's essay and its multicultural
implications/applications, I thought it might be appropriate to put in a plug
for the most brilliant production of *Julius Caesar* I have ever seen, Rome
Neal's *Julius Caesar Set in Africa,* with which I am in no way associated
except to claim the distinction of being its most vocal fan. Rome Neal, an
extraordinarily gifted director/performer, adapted Shakespeare's play nearly
verbatim to a setting in 13th-century Ghana and Mali, adumbrating the play's
inherent ritual elements with dance and drum and all sorts of good stuff. I
spent nearly two years persuading my university to spring for the cost of
bringing the production to our campus--where it was enormously successful fr an
audience of not only the university community but jr-high-school kids from
nearby inner-city neighborhoods (university funding meant that we were able to
offer the production free to the audience). Rome's company also provided a
half-day workshop on African dance and drumming techniques, and got the kids to
read some Shakespeare as well. SHAKSPER colleagues located within commuting
distance of the NYC-metropolitan area who would like to see their campus
communities transformed by this gifted crew can contact Rome Neal at the
Nuyorican Poets Cafe, P.O. Box 20794, 236 E. 3rd St, NY, NY 10009.
 
For a more elaborate paean to this production, see my review in *SHakespeare
Bulletin* 9:4 (Fall 1991): 39-40.
 
Still awed--
Naomi C. Liebler

Subscribe to Our Feeds

Search

Make a Gift to SHAKSPER

Consider making a gift to support SHAKSPER.