Fela: This Bitch of a Life - Play Review

Fela

Drama

When I first arrived at the Sadler's Wells Theatre and saw the stage setup and heard a band playing on stage in a smoky atmosphere punctuated with crazy lights, I didn't know what to expect. But I was eager with anticipation for what might come. Fela! The posthumous, autobiographical musical is about a singer-composer, sax player and bandleader: Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, born in Abeokuta, Nigeria in 1938. The production is a truly a tour de force of African dance, singing and live music conceived by Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis' adaptation of Carlos Moore's book, "Fela: This Bitch Of A Life." In that sense, Kuti tells his life and times as a 20th century music pioneer who explored a blend of West African rhythms, Funk and Jazz (Afro-beat or better termed Afro-Jazz), mixed with thought-provoking political messages that challenged the corrupt Nigerian government of the 1970s throughout much of Act One.

The musical begins like a concert with the Fela character saying "I'm glad you made it here in this part of town without being arrested." And, "who here has ever been to jail?" Shocking stuff, since I was or so I thought, at the corner of Rosemary Avenue and St. John's Street in Islington, London. While that is true, I was also strangely teleported to Nigeria, to a sexy, mysterious nightclub called the Shrine located in the Kalakuta compound where Fela Kuti (powerfully played by Sahr Ngaujah) lives. The Shrine is where Fela is most at home with his "queens" (his 27 wives played and represented by nine women) as he calls them. It is also the only performance space where one can experience the funky rhythms of Afro-beat played by his powerful, heart thumping band (portrayed by Brooklyn's phenomenal Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra). Here in Lagos...ah um...Sadler's Wells, conventional barriers between stage and auditorium is joyfully joined by the pounding percussionist music of Fela and his unpredictable, audience engaging, candid commentary and story telling of his journey from boy to man.

While Act One depicts Fela sharing about his musical inspirations (Frank Sinatra and James Brown) and his keener awareness with the black power movement in the U.S. as well as his ambitions to become a "black president." Act two, following the intermission, is quite serious. It adds more than the energetic dance numbers like "The Clock/Originality" and "Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense," which were performed by skillful male and female dancers who encouraged audience participation. It went further to make us aware of the true source of Fela's inspiration and power - his mother Funmilayo. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was a Nigerian feminist politician, a teacher, a women's rights' activist, and founder of the Nigerian Women s union." Soldiers