Each week, we interview our guests coming for
the #Babishai2016 Poetry Festival scheduled for 24-26 August 2016. In
partnership with Praxis magazine, we want to share the power of poetry. This
week, it’s Oswald Okaitei from Ghana, poet, performer and playwright.
1. Oswald, thanks for
agreeing to this. As a child, you acted in twenty episodes of a Ghanaian
children’s drama series, By The Fireside. How old were you, what roles did you
play and was that a foundation for your art?
You
are welcome. I was 13 yrs to 15 years for the period of production. I played
several roles. However prominent amongst them include Agya Koo
(KwakuAnanse’s good friend), The Hawk (As in the Hawk & Hen Tale), Nana
YiadomBoakye (King) etc.
Yes,
BY THE FIRESIDE has been the basis for my current arts status. It moulded me
artistically and nurtured my interest for Ghanaian folkloric arts—especially my
style of poetry.
2. As a playwright who
has written,
directed and produced several plays including Beautyfyl
Nonsense (A political comedy), Who Stole The Casket?(Emancipation
tragic-comedy), When It Turns Red… (Peace play), In Man’s Libido and In The Bag
Of A Woman (Social comedies) at
the Centre for National Culture (Accra and Cape Coast) and the National Theatre
of Ghana respectively, what is your process of engagement with themes? Do you
have a cast always on standby and which is your own favourite play to-date?
Yes, Play House.kom,
my Production House (a theatre company) has constant cast and crew.
All are my favourite
but I think the most appreciated is IN THE BAG OF A WOMAN.
3. You’re quite
prolific. In your emancipation-tragic comedy, Who Stole the
casket?, kindly explain why it was categorised
under emancipation and what you feel the play achieved? Thank you for the
compliment. “Who Stole The Casket?” tells the story of how Africa lost her
political authority and the journey to fetching it. The characters in the play
are symbolical and in a quite simple way, explain what would seem a rather
complex history.
4. The main theme of the
#Babishai2016 Poetry Festival is Abundance: Poetry from Contemporary Africa,
how does that speak to you?
There
are many phases (Evolved and original) of the African contemporary poetry and
they have a lot to serve the society—immediate and farther.
|
|
 |
5. When you think of
poetry in Uganda, what images come to your mind?
Ugandan
tourism sites/ items.Uganda Poetry festivals, especially Babishai Poetry
Festival, has done a lot of good works setting the tourism of Uganda in a
portrait.
6. During the
#Babishai2016 Poetry Festival, we will hold a children’s poetry session under
the sub-theme of Children’s poetry and its accessibility. How important do
you think it is for African children to have poetry created for
them?
It
is very vital and crucial: creating a generation of African poets who would
grow to appreciate Africa and understand the role they can play in putting the
African continent on the world map through poetry.
7. What diet would you
recommend for poets?
A
lot of vegetables and natural foods.
8. What are you looking
forward to at the #Babishai2016 Poetry Festival?
A
common platform where focus will be placed on celebrating a new generation of
African poets and telling the world that beyond the known African Poetry
legends, there is a promise of hope for the next generation in the field of
poetry.
9. Any parting words?
I
believe that poetry has an immense contribution towards curbing the high level
of unemployment in Africa and the world at large. Therefore, corporate
institution/ governments should be ever ready to invest in that regard.
Thank you Oswald.
For more festival details, email festival@babishainiwe.com
No comments:
Post a Comment