Gather ‘round, little ones! Granny’s got tamarind balls and a story for you. A story about a bird woman who creates the world, and one of her creations, Sekesu Sankofa and how she makes a little creation of her own. The next instalment of The Sankofa Trilogy, benu, has made its nest at the Franco Boni Theatre. Looking at the next generation of Sankofa women, benu is a heartbreaking story about finding ones way while trying to break the cycles which have brought you there in the first place.

Where blood.claat’s design focused on warm colours, benu is the opposite: you enter into a room flooded with blue light. There’s a cloaked figure centre stage, covered in a large blue piece of fabric and twitching periodically underneath. Perched throughout the seats are the Griot Posse, with fabulous headdresses which resemble birds. And not just any birds, they look like Blue Jays, with their calls echoing throughout the space. Though most of Rachel Forbes’ set design remains the same, there are subtle differences which let us know we’ve migrated to a different part of the story. The masks from blood.claat now adorn two small posts on either side of the stage, with Mudgu’s hanging on the large platform. There’s straw strewn about the stage; the same is used on Candice Dixon’s stunning costumes which evokes the material used for nests.

benu is truly about nesting in its many forms: moving to a new country, settling into your own space when it’s time, and making space for a new life. Sekesu lives in Toronto, Canada with her Granny, who took her there when she was a child. She tells us about her Granny’s store, and how so many of the customs from Jamaica and the other island countries around it still apply here, and how her Granny used to bring all of the kids in the apartment building tamarind balls when she had to go to the wholesaler and restock her goods. Though her Granny has gone back to Jamaica, Sekesu has decided to stay. Now that she’s close to 30, she wants to become a mother; she knows that she’s already broken the cycle of her mother and grandmother, and great-grandmother by waiting this long, so now she’s sure she’s ready. After a difficult birth, Sekesu begins to experience massive headaches, and so we meet her when she’s at the ER, trying to get help. However, instead of finding help, Sekesu finds more trouble in that waiting room than she could have expected.

The mythical elements of d’bi.young antiafrika’s text were quite different in benu; there were portions of storytelling, where they would tell the little birds about the bird woman who created the world and all of the living things on it. But then there were other sections where it’s like Sekesu was speaking directly to Benu before she was born. In these sections the large strips of blue fabric act like a womb, embracing the characters within it in an attempt to keep them safe. In these sections, you can feel Sekesu’s intense desire to be a mother, and the earnestness of her promises to her unborn baby.

d’bi.young anitafrika and the Griot Posse give another outstanding performance in benu. Their physicality throughout the performance is mesmerizing, mimicking the small skittish movements of birds throughout. KayGeni, Kabrena Robinson, Keira Forde, and Josemar are consistently proving their storytelling prowess with each new production.

When Sekesu fully emerges as her ultimate bird woman maternal form, it’s absolutely breathtaking. Despite her missteps, her love for her child is all powerful, just like the stories her Granny told her. benu truly packs a punch in its 60 minute run time, and is a perfect segue to the next generations and the troubles they’ll face. What will Benu do when it’s her turn to make some noise in the world, in word! sound! powah!?

benu runs at the Franco Boni Theatre of The Theatre Centre until October 5. You can also catch it as part of the marathon weekend October 11 and 12. For more information and tickets, visit: https://theatrecentre.org/event/sankofatrilogy/

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Cover Photo: The Cast of benu. Photo by Selina McCallum

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