d'bi.young anitafrika, playwright & performer of "blood.claat: one oomaan story - photo by Steve Boyton
Feature story by Heather Marie Scheerschmidt
d’bi young is a modern day storyteller. Weaving together pieces of her own life with the history and mythology of her Jamaican heritage, she uses the ritual power of storytelling to convey a message of possibility and social transformation. Her Toronto-based company, anitAFRIKA! Dub Theatre is dedicated to using the power of language as an agent for social change. A captivating performer, in her Dora award-winning one woman show “blood.claat”, d’bi young plays several characters. Through each of them, she explores the theme of blood; how it connects and how it destroys.
As the story begins, we see young Mudgu, who, at fifteen years old, is still adjusting to the responsibilities of womanhood that are represented by menstruation. At once empowering and oppressive, depending on your point of view, Mudgu’s monthly cycle is the microcosm that draws our awareness to the larger cycles at play here: cycles of violence, repression and poverty. Mudgu’s individual struggle to navigate her way from girl to womanhood, with the polarizing influences of such figures as her Granny, the authority figure, and Johnny, the bad boy boyfriend, slowly becomes a metaphor for women’s struggle to escape the cycles of discrimination, exploitation and sexual violence.
What makes this story all the more poignant for Ottawa audiences who are seeing “blood.claat” for the first time, is to view it in the context of International Women’s Day. March 8th is a day set aside to remember the kind of revolutions and social change that d’bi young’s work is all about. Gender discrimination continues to be a problem the world over, and women still represent the majority of the world’s poor. In Jamaica, where “blood.claat” is set, this year’s Women’s Day celebration is under the theme ‘Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All’ and it is a call to action for the empowerment and advancement of women everywhere. The purpose: to ensure the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls in order that they may reach their full potential in society and shape their lives in accordance with their own aspirations.
What is explored in “blood.claat” is how one’s history informs their ability to fulfill those aspirations. As a young Jamaican woman, Mudgu’s ability to choose is complicated by her gender and her family history. In one sense she is doomed to repeat the cycle of poverty and abuse that her mother, and her mother before her have endured. However, we are not made to feel sorry for this character because we can see her strength as well as her challenges. We watch her discover her connections to the world through blood. There is her own blood, which represents her transition to womanhood, her connection to the women who have come before her, and eventually to the daughter to whom she will give birth. There is also the blood she witnesses; during a violent episode on a bus, and the brutal murder of her boyfriend Johnny. Blood comes to represent transformation, both physical and social. It also represents connection; the connection of family through blood, the connection of women through menstruation, and the connection of human beings. Blood represents our vulnerability but it also evokes our compassion. Through the values of compassion, integrity, and forgiveness, transformation is possible.
As part of the observance of International Women’s Day, the UN is hosting their 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. Among the Commission’s recommendations for achieving prosperity is to adopt a social, rather than economic, model of growth. Decent work with gender equality at the heart of it can only happen through a process of transformative change. Women must be active agents in this process of change, taking their places in leadership and decision-making roles.
d’bi young demonstrates an understanding that her role as storyteller is that of a community leader. As she explained to the audience on opening night at the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre, to occupy the position of storyteller in your community you must not only share, you have to also listen. At each performance of “blood.claat”, the audience forms a kind of community with d’bi and she engages each of her listeners, first with her story and then with a discussion afterwards. As she told her audience at the talk back, theatre is a two way street. The storyteller must reflect her community, and she is made aware of herself through the audience reactions. We act as mirrors for each other. And the story evolves, she explained, during each re-telling. Some of this is due to the language: “blood.claat” is written in Jamaican patois, and during each performance young must balance the integrity of her writing with the audience’s ability to understand the words. It is equally important to honour the language of the work, which locates it in a particular time and place, and to make a meaningful connection with the audience, which is the here and now. By gauging the vibe of her audience, d’bi young changes the words she uses to suit the moment. She holds a talk back after each performance, because she believes communication with her audience is a key part of the creative process.
The sense of responsibility she feels towards her role of storyteller informs young’s choice of narratives. A semi-autobiographical work, “blood.claat” puts it all out there. Biomyth monodrama is how young describes her style. Beginning from a place of personal truth she expands the narrative to create a compelling story. Deep-seeded social issues in Jamaica are brought to light in this work. Blood claat used to mean a cloth Jamaican women used during menstruation, but it has become a Jamaican swear word. It is used colloquially as an adjective, similar to the way a lot of Canadians would use the word ‘fucking’. By reclaiming the term blood claat and exploring its dual meaning in Jamaican culture, young is pointing to the transformation that is possible through language. As meaning shifts, so does perception; and a change in consciousness comes before a change in society.
As explained on her website, part of d’bi young’s “wombandate” is to use theatre to explore and expand the relationship between the storyteller, their village(s), and transformation. There are universal truths in “blood.claat”, including the idea that each one of us has a personal mythology. It is about the choices we make in our lives, and how they are influenced by where we come from. d’bi young is a woman telling a woman’s story. But more than that, she is a storyteller who understands the power and the ritual of story and its effect on a culture and its people. She reminds us that words matter, that sharing matters, that connections matter. That women matter. d’bi young reminds us of the power that comes with telling our stories.
blood.claat is written and performed by d’bi young and directed by Weyni Mengesha. Presented by the Great Canadian Theatre Company, the show runs now until March 21 at the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre. For more details, please visit gctc.ca
Oracle theatre review by Wayne Current
