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28180: Fonda: Event: Historical Drama - Three Innocents and a Spirit -- in Philadelphia
From Dave Fonda: david-f@comcast.net
‘Three Innocents And A Spirit’
a Historical Drama of the Collision of Cultures
Sunday, April 2, 2006, 7:00 pm Pilling Hall Theater
First United Methodist Church of Germantown
6023 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA
www.fumcog.org for directions
Contact:
David Fonda -
610.279.8525
david@fondaphoto.com
Rodney Chonka -
215.849.9525
rodrigo691@msn.com
N a Sonje Foundation will present Three Innocents and a Spirit at 7pm on
Sunday, April 2, in the Pilling Hall Theater at the First United Methodist
Church of Germantown, 6023 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia. The performance will
mark the Philadelphia premiere on their nationwide tour.
Three Innocents and a Spirit is a ‘stylized and intimate’ historical drama of
the collision of cultures of the peoples from the Americas, Europe, and Africa
from before the time of Christopher Columbus through the present, and the
cultural crises that have developed as a result. The play exposes the
destruction and acculturation of Native Americans and the enslavement of
Africans, which resulted in a transfer of wealth and natural resources to
Europe.
The Denver Metropolitan calls it ‘an ambitious historical tableau, a condensed
piece of stagecraft that encompasses over 500 years of history. The N a Sonje
troupe transports viewers through the ages as it awakens them to the past and
the present that binds us all.’
Set in Haiti and using it’s unique struggles as a microcosm of the exploitation
of indigenous cultures by European colonizers, Three Innocents and a Spirit is
performed by two Haitian men, representing the Native American and African
cultures, and an American woman, representing the European culture. Dressed in
period costumes, the three actors weave together mime, dance, puppetry,
interactive participation, and music to demonstrate the progression and effect
of historical events. During the drama the characters experience a
transformational awakening through which they realize their physical and
spiritual losses, as well as their mutual need for one another.
The presentation lasts approx. 50 minutes. The cast will then engage in a
post-production discussion, creating an open forum for ideas and solutions that
can help heal our fractured societies. Refreshments will be available.
A suggested donation of $10, $5 for seniors and students, will help fund the N
a Sonje Foundations efforts to create The Memory Village, a permanent
interactive, historical village (located in Haiti on the site of a former
village established by Africans who escaped from the sugar plantations during
the colonial era) reenacting the truths of the transatlantic slave trade.
Additional donations for this project are greatly appreciated.
The Cast
Carla Bluntschli: Carla moved to Haiti from the United States in 1985 with her
husband and three daughters and worked with a small development agency until
1993. As a result of her personal experience, Carla became a cofounder of
DOA/BN, an alternative educational tourism business, in order to share the
positive forces of Haiti with the outside world. She considers this work an
honor and a privilege.
Harry Nicolas: Harry (pronounced 'Ari' in Creole) is from Cape Haitian, Haiti,
married with two sons and currently living in the mountains of Port-au-Prince.
Ari cofounded DOA/BN with Carla. He considers himself an everyday, 'modern'
Haitian who passionately shares his people's history and hospitality with the
world.
Djalòki Ntjitjagagi Jean Luc Dessables (Dja): Dja is a postmodern seeker of
ancient wisdom, integrating his multicultural Haitian roots (African, Native,
European), and translating primordial vision and spirituality into today's
context.
The Organization
The N a Sonje Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in Haiti in August
2002. ‘N a sonje’ means ‘we will remember’ in Haitian Creole. N a Sonje’s
mission is to encourage understanding based on respectful and equal
relationships between peoples of different cultures, and to heal historical
wounds through artistic activism. The Foundation emphasizes a more complete
memory of the historical events that created the current political, economic,
interpersonal and international dynamics at the level of nations, communities,
and individuals.
DOA/BN (pronounced dwa-bay-en in Creole) is a not-for-profit organization
founded in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1993 by Carla Bluntschli and Harry Nicolas.
Their conviction is that Haiti's deep roots, wrenching history, and compelling
truths will offer you gifts of new understandings. Their vision is to connect
you with Haiti's people and history, allowing you to capture the community of
their shared daily lives through intercultural experiences.
Historical Context
In 1791, after 300 years of colonial rule, slavery and genocide of Amerindian
and African peoples, the slave population of St. Domingue launched a revolution
that shook the entire western world's economic and political system to the
core. On January 1st, 1804 independence was declared and the free nation of
Haiti was created. Haiti’s central location and the loss of it’s dominant
position in colonial trade brought an end to the transatlantic slave system and
challenged the established religious and scientifically based ‘truths’ and
justifications used by the colonizing powers.
(Religious justification by church authorities of the 17th and 18th centuries
used the ‘black legend’ from the story of Noah and the curse of Ham as
justification of black slavery as well as a providential means to ‘evangelize’
the cursed race. The science of anthropology at the time, led by the famous
French philosopher Buffon, put forth the theory that there was a hierarchy of
the races. In this pyramid of races, blacks challenge the orangutans for last
position with the white at the pinnacle of ethical, aesthetic and physical
perfection.)
While Haiti’s colonial oppression was at an end, the country has continued to
suffer economic and political oppression from without, and societal and
personal oppression from within. Haiti’s unique history makes it the ideal
context for studying the cultural conflicts of European colonialism and the
slave trade.
Sponsored by the Haiti Committee of the First United Methodist Church of
Germantown.
For more information on the N a Sonje Foundation’s Memory Village Project,
visit:
www.haititravels.org/underconstruction.htm
For more information on the DOA/BN visit:
www.haititravels.org
For more information on the First United Methodist Church of Germantown, visit:
www.fumcog.org