THE Pyramid at Pointe Seraphine was the scene of ‘LiberteEn Bois: A Walk Through Time Street Art Performance, A Thrilling & Interactive Experience’ which was put on last Saturday by Bamboo Productions and Val Arts in association with Alliance Française.
Musicians from Martinique also contributed to the final product on display last week, which was performed in front of an audience of about 200 people.
The overall show, including the story and choreography, was written and organised by members of Bamboo Productions.
Set during colonial times (apparently during a time the British ruled St. Lucia, given the accents of the slave masters) the story was interwoven with both modern and traditional themes. Actors who portrayed slaves, who lived hundreds of years ago, oftentimes sung modern songs and danced modern dances which did not exist back then.
The mish-mash of styles and eras portrayed in the production was a deliberate direction taken by the writer and performers as confirmed by Evelyne Gasse, the Director General of Alliance Française St. Lucia, in an exclusive interview with the Voice Newspaper.
“It’s what we wanted” she stated, when commenting about the clash of musical styles in Saturday’s show. “We went from the traditional music to the very, very modern music at the end.”
She also elaborated on the decision to utilize the entire space at Alliance Française during the performance. There were three different locations in which the actors performed– the front lawn, inside the Pyramid and the back porch– moving during different intervals from one location to the other, with the audience having to move with them.
“Regarding the show…what we wanted (was) to have a story…and to have a story in different places.” When explaining why that decision was taken Gasse said; “We wanted to create (a) different atmosphere”
When asked about the audience’s reaction to the show’s movement from place to place she said “I think they were quite happy”, although conceding that they were not used to it.
The Alliance Française Director General had high praise for the performers from Bamboo Productions, highlighting their youth and their exuberance when preparing for the show.
“We worked with…very talented young people from Bamboo Productions.” Gasse stated. She then exclaimed how “amazing” it was to witness the young performers have a “Yes we can do anything” approach to their acting, praising them for their maturity in organizing most of the show’s facets.
Continuing her effusive praise of the group, Gasse stated: “I was very impressed. Very impressed, they were able to organise everything by themselves and I think they wanted; they really wanted to show other people that they can do this kind of thing themselves.”
Gasse also spoke about the “Street Art” component of the show.
Describing street art as “art from the street” she went on to explain that the props for the show, weren’t bought, but rather the “things they used were recycled” as she put it before describing the process of “trying to find…pieces of wood, plastic, and so on” for use in the production.
