These pictures were drawn by refugee children from Darfur, they show conflict and death in a shocking manor. These images show the kind of memories and experiences some of the refugees in fugee will have to now live with.

I find them a useful source for the play as they help me in understanding why the refuge may be so full of conflicts and constant noise. they are also useful in understanding why Kojo may feel the need to stab the man because of what he is used to and what he must have seen every day on the streets.

Why I would like to play Ara

I would like to play Ara because i find her very interesting because of her confident nature and her presence throughout the play. She relates to me as i think she is very strong willed and is quite protective of her friends. Her relationship with Kojo tells me alot about her character and how she would relate to him on stage by bouncing off him. She has quite a lot of banter with people on stage which is something i enjoy performing as well as her being quite active on stage moving about walking and running.

Her background isnt explained much in the play but i think whatever has happend to her has made her quite strong and grown up which is something i can again understand for example moving to the brit school and leaving where i went for 3 years realy made me much more mature than how many of my old friends are.

It is for those reasons i would really like to play ara in  Fugee although i think whoever gets the part will to it justice i would really like to have a go at doing so. Other parts in the play are also very interesting to me such as Roza because of her banter with Hassan on stage. I really enjoyed the audition in class as it was a good expirence in seeing everyone act especialy those whom are prehaps not as confident in class usualy and it was nice to see how everyone interacted on stage.




This is a photo from a previous production of Fugee, we can see the characters Kojo and Ara on stage interacting. This highlights Aras protective and comforting nature. You can also see her strong stance and this is the type of character i would like to play.

THE CHARACTERS

KOJO: As a class we imagined Kojo to be 'homesick' 'scared' and 'guilty', we thought this because of the death of his parents and the fact that he was all alone in a big city where he felt like no one could understand him. In the play he is described a a 'lier' 'skinny' and 'in love with Ara'. This shows his softer side but also goes back to him feeling misunderstood and alone. I think this shows us why Ara must mean so much to him because he feels like she 'gets' him.

ARA: We thought Ara would be feeling 'hope' 'loss' and 'love' mainly throughout the play. This was because of her hope for finding Kojo and no longer feeling alone with no family but also because of her worry shown from Kojo stabbing the man and having to run we thought she would have felt as if she had lost the one person she had left.

CHUNG: In the play Chung is a gymnast which we think would give him 'playful' characteristics. He is also admired by many girls for his 'strong legs' and 'dark hair' so this again brings out his cheeky playful side. much like Ara the play doesn't give you much information on Chung but this really helped in finding his personality.

THURSDAY 15TH NOVEMBER - LESSON

In todays lesson we aimed to set the atmosphere of different locations in the play. We did this by laying with our eyes shut in a space of the room and when indicated each saying a different phrase, word or sound at the same time gradually growing and then declining.  Our first atmosphere was 'at the refuge' here there was a lot of shouting taking place and knocking on the door as well as children panicking about where they have place their belongings. This taught me of how the refugees must be feeling and the environment they are in whilst dealing with that. The refuge came across as if you had 30 brothers and sisters all of which you disliked and had to share everything with. it taught me how different our life is to theres and how being able to watch TV whenever i want is something that i hugely take for granted.

We also created the atmosphere of the market, somewhere largely used throughout the play. The sounds were once again very loud and probably very intimidating to a 14 year old child. There was once again a lot of shouting but there was also an aspect of  fun. The sound of laughter seemed alien but somehow fit perfectly. You can understand why Ara and Kojo would want to spend their time there because of its fun adventurous side. It also feels like you could be anywhere in the world which probably makes them feel very at home and safe. However because there are so many people and so much rushing at a market you can understand how Kojo would have gotten away with stabbing the man and then blending into the crowd. This atmosphere helped me with understanding why they would choose to spent their time there and also the intimidation that could have led to Kojo stabbing the man.

Another exercise we did was 'a day in the life' i was put as Ara and over a short time period we acted out a sped up day as them. I decided to base mine before Ara had met Kojo and when she was living at the refuge without him. I visioned her as a sensitive character helping some of the younger refugees by kindly offering them her food when they didn't get any. It was obvious to me that if she needed to she could stand up for herself but underneath that was a kind 14 year old girl who just wanted to live as a child. I imagined her trying to communicate with the others and make friends, but the language barrier didn't allow her. The experience was very helpful in learning more about her as we don't get much information on her background in the play.

KABUL

Kabul is the largest city and capital of Afghanistan,  in our play it is where one of the refugees Ara originally comes from. Afghanistan has been at war since 1978 and is certainly not the place you would choose to grow up. British and American armed forces are heavily based in Kabul and are just as common as a poster on the street during every day life, we can see this in the video below.  

a shopping center, somewhere children hang out with their friends is patrolled by the army, growing up in this type of environment would create the idea that 'war is normal' and 'just something you have to live with'. However because the character Ara is a refugee in London this shows her determination and courage. Maybe she had believed  that she didn't want this as her life but wasn't scared to do anything about it so she did and took refuge in the UK. This tells us a lot about her character and how she is strong minded and productive. 

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Côte d'Ivoire - The ivory coast

'You will never find a place more unique than the Ivory Coast. The Ivory Coast has the most children in the whole world.'

 It is 322,463 square kilometers. In Africa, the Ivory Coast is located on the western part of its coast. 

The 2010–11 Ivorian crisis was a political crisis in Côte d'Ivoire which began after Laurent Gbagbo, the President of Côte d'Ivoire, was proclaimed the winner of the Ivorian election in 2010 this was the first election in the country in 10 years. His rival, Alassane Ouattara, and a number of countries, organisations and leaders  claimed Ouattara had won the election. After months of attempted negotiation and violence, the crisis entered a decisive stage as Ouattara's forces began a military offensive in which they quickly gained control of most of the country and besieged key targets in Abidjan, the country's largest city. International organizations have reported numerous human rights violations, and the UN undertook its own military action with the stated objective to protect itself and civilians.

Laurent Koudou Gbagbo
Gbagbo

 

 

 

Alassane Ouattara