Good theatre can allow you to step into worlds you don’t live in, to “experience” things you couldn’t hope to experience in real life, and, for a brief interval, it allows you to see the world through someone else’s eyes.
Really good theatre takes it one step further. Somehow, over the course of an hour or two, understanding grows, and similarities become as obvious as differences. Obaberima is really good theatre.
Ghanaian-born, Toronto-based actor Tawiah M’carthy tells the heartbreaking story of a young man who has spent a life time submerging pieces of his sexual identity. He feels guilty for leaving others to be persecuted in Ghana, he feels ostracized by Canadians who treat him differently because of his accent and the colour of his skin, and he is struggling to find his place in the gay community.
His decision to stand up for himself, to show the world who he really is, seems right and empowering, and for me, it shed a lot a light on why Gay Pride Week is so important. The consequences of his actions showed how far we as a society still have to go.
As a double-bill with Obaberima, Zuppa Theatre offers a tiny glittering gem of a play called Very Secret Ceremony.
It opens with a beautifully harmonized lament. From there, we watch and listen as three school mates prepare for the Apocalypse. They pass on their sagest advice, exchange gifts and relive their most perfect day. Are they conjuring the end of the world? Who knows? This play is a mystery of moments and music.
Secret Ceremony and Obaberima at The Bus Stop Theatre, 7:00 pm July 20-22. $15 Regular, $10 Students, Seniors and Underwaged.
This article appears in Jul 16-22, 2009.