student reports on "3 Innocents and a Spirit"

[Ari, Carla, Djaloki]

March 23rd:  some university students' reports after seeing "3 Innocents and a Spirit"

 

Haiti

 

I really enjoyed this presentation type play.  I have never been big into history and I do know the story and the basic concept of what this play illustrated, but I have never actually seen it acted out in such a way.  I fully agree and support their idea that if everyone can see, and try to relive the past for a moment, maybe that can bring hope and light to the future.

 

I learned probably the most in the question and answer portion of the evening when Carla was talking about the white people returning to nature and getting back to the core of our origins.  I was really struck.  I never have realized exactly how much we have strayed from what is true and real in that sense, turning to a love for power and money and letting that drive us when really, as she illustrated by removing the silver mask and replacing the wreath of flowers, returning to nature and our roots is what can and will get us back on track.  I loved this.

 

I also really liked the way Carla spoke about Jesus and the cross through this entire production.  I suppose it was not just specifically Carla, but all three of them making the distinction that the cross did not represent Jesus's love, but rather the slavery and oppression that was brought through that religion.  It was through Christianity that they justified slavery and I really did not know that before.  I really like when Carla said that just like Jesus if we can live through and experience the pain of our ancestors and the past, then together we can spread love and do great things.  I think that is remarkable and I've never thought or it has never been brought to my attention this idea.

 

One last thing that I really was taken aback by was when Djalòki was describing the origin of Creole, he said it was a language that came from a time of suffering and resistance.  When he told the stories about how they put all the people together so that they could not communicate, but then rising above this and working it out to form Creole, the way in which he told it was beautiful.  You could feel when he spoke, his intense love and passion for all of this.

 

I learned a lot!  I knew basically none of this and was absolutely blown away by this performance and the question / answer time after.

 

 

"3 Innocents and a Spirit"

 

   The presentation of "Three Innocents and a Spirit" was very moving and informative.  The stylized form of the play was effective.  It focused on the players rather than their words.  Anyone could understand the meaning and the information of the play.  It's designed for any culture, language and education level.  I also enjoyed how compact each time period was.  It made it easy to follow and my attention didn't stray.  The addition of the pirating in the Caribbean in the 1500's was an intelligent idea and it was also informative.  It's a form of colonization that many people don't know about or just tend to forget about.  The inclusion of the Saint Mary's student was smart.  It showed someone totally willing to learn and participate in others'.  This in turn helped to show how unwilling to learn and participate in the cultures the British were.  The student's part in the end showed how the youth of today are going to remember.  The end of the play about reconciliation was beautifully done.  The red ribbon was a simple yet effective symbol for al the bloodshed and pain that was left all over the world throughout history.  In all, this presentation was very effective in teaching as well as stirring strong emotions.

 

 

Three Innocents and a Spirit

 

    When I learned that this was Haiti awareness week, I was very interested because my parents helped to bring a program to my church where we sponsor a church in Haiti.  Last April, my dad went to Haiti for a week to check the progress of a trade school they are funding as well as to look into ways to improve the water supply.  Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, so I assumed that many of the activities this week would focus on the social justice issues.

    "Three Innocents and a Spirit" focused on the history of Haiti and on the importance of their ancestors.  It was very intriguing to see the struggle of the African and Native people from their perspective.  I have never stepped out of my comfort zone enough to view colonization through the eyes of another race.  The play forced me to look at things a little bit differently, when the native man, who had been very peaceful before, used the violence that he had learned from the white man.

    It would have been very interesting to see how the history of Haiti led to the poverty of the country suffers today.  I wish that the men would have talked about their lives in Haiti and used that as a way to promote their idea of "what will you do now?"  It would have been interesting to hear about them and the culture that they call their own.

    Throughout the entire play, I kept wondering why they would build the museum in Haiti.  Obviously, the country is very dear to their hearts and it is a good place to showcase the different nationalities since they all mixed there.  I have to wonder, however, how many people will visit the museum in Haiti.  Recently, there has been such violence in Haiti that many mission trips have been cancelled.  It is an unsafe country right now and it has been dangerous for years.  I would be interested in knowing who they think will visit their museum and why they decided that Haiti was a prime location for it.

 

English 109w

 

     I actually really liked the play last night.  I'll be honest, I went into it thinking it was just going to be something to do to get extra credit.  But I actually liked it a lot.  It was so much more different than anything I had ever been to and for that reason I liked it.  It broadened my horizons and things and I always like to experience new things, and this was something that I definitely had never experienced before.  I loved how they didn't use any words but simply relied on mime.  It made the play so much more interesting and it grabbed the audience's attention.  It forced us to pay attention more so that we could know what was going on.  I also liked all the symbolism they used, especially with the red ribbon.  At first I was confused at what the red ribbon was supposed to symbolize and I was planning on asking them in the question and answer part.  But by the end of the play it was clear to me what it was about.  The ending was my favorite part when it was asked what to do now.  I loved that they put the red ribbon in the center of the sheet that said we will remember.  I agree that with everything in our history the best thing to do is remember, that is the only way we can try to not make past mistakes again.  All in all, I thought this play was great and I would recommend it to anyone.  It was fun to watch and I learned a lot.

 

"Three Innocents and a Spirit"

 

     I attended the "Three Innocents and a Spirit" historical drama on Wednesday March 23, 2006 at 7:00PM.  This play supported the N a Sonje Foundation, meaning "we will remember."  I did not know what it was going to be about and had no preconceived expectations about it.  However, I found it to be an interesting presentation with a lot of good examples of how races have changed throughout past centuries.  The actors were emotional and fascinating to watch.  They were able to pass on their powerful message using few words and relying only on facial movements and actions.  The actors were obviously very passionate about the cause that the presentation was supporting.

    In addition to the enthralling actors, the scenery was very well done.  Though it was extremely simple, constructed only out of material, it served its purpose wonderfully.  I believe that the point of this play was to show how people have evolved and the struggles that humans have faced for hundreds of years.  The powerful point of the play meant that elaborate scenery and costumes were not necessarily needed.  I thought that their simplicity made the emotions of the actors even more prominent.

    The powerful fight that the actors portrayed had a great impact on the audience.  From the 1300's until the present, races have changed and experienced many unnecessary hardships.  The beating, killing, and controlling attitudes that occurred were detrimental to many people.  It change society and molded it into what it is today.

    Overall, I enjoyed the play.  I would be interested to know how the actors became involved with this cause and exactly what the foundation is.

 

"Three Innocents and a Spirit"

 

     I attended the performance on Wednesday night and was very intrigued by the play.  The three actors all did an amazing job and portrayed each nationality very well.  I thought the simple background and props did a great job of supporting the themes and also made it easy to understand without the use of the actor's voices.

     At times I felt it was a little difficult to understand exactly what was going on because the actors were voiceless, but I understood the general themes.  The oppression of the Native Americans and Africans by the Europeans was a fair representation in my opinion.  The fact that they didn't use their voices made the viewer give more thought and consideration into what their actions meant.  The sound effects in the background were always very interesting.  The use of music and the voices reading gave a sense of what happened during that time period without making it boring.

     I enjoyed the last part of the play the most because I thought it was funny how they portrayed the people of today.  The cell phone and rap music was a great example of how people live today.  The only thing I thought was a little too optimistic was the symbolization of unity.  It seemed like they thought that in the future all races will get along.  I don't believe that will happen, I think there will always be minorities and there will be a group or groups of people who are seen as superiors to others.

     Overall, I thought that the performance was very good and that the actors were great.  They all showed the true characteristics of the white Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans during the specific time periods.

 

"Three Innocents and a Spirit"

 

     I really liked this performance.  It was very unique and interesting.  I learned a lot about the past 500 years and how much horror and confusion people went through (especially the Africans and Native Americans).  I liked all of the symbolism in the play; the red ribbon, silver masks, etc.  It was very creative.  I already knew the history that the performance covered, but I was unfamiliar with the different views and how they were connected.

     Questions:

          How long did it take to prepare this performance?

          Is it difficult to be on stage all that time and not talk?

          Are you going to be involved in building the Memory Village?

          why is this project important to you?

 

I learned that the white man was responsible for the destruction of the people and the cultures of Native American or African.  The play portrayed us as evil and hurtful human beings.  It made me ashamed to be related to people during those time periods (and embarrassed).  I enjoyed the presentation of the 3 cultures when they shared innocence from the materialistic views and morals.  It was very effective with the music rather than them talking.  Music is the universal language that strikes at people's emotions, which is something we can all relate to and feel and experience.  It helped to make my heart go out to all the people struggling and made me question myself at the end of the play.  It made me realize it is not going out and helping people, but rather to just respect and embrace other cultures.  I can share my culture while experiencing other cultures as well.  There is no one way to live, no one culture to live by.

 

Haiti Experience

 

     I really enjoyed the "Three Innocents and a Spirit" performance last night.  I was impressed how skillfully and accurately they were able to express the conditions in each of the three areas of people.  Also, I was amazed at how they were able to show these periods of time in such a small amount of time.  That in less than one hour,  just 3 people were able to brilliantly convey centuries of persecution and oppression.  I was interested to learn that even though the play was free for us, they were trying to raise money for their N a Sonje Foundation.  They had come all the way from Haiti to put on this play in South Bend, Indiana to raise money for something they felt so passionately about.  These 3 people had so much passion on stage and I also saw this passion in Carla's story when I heard that she had left the United States and now calls Haiti her home.  I am interested, because of this fact, to know more about the N a Sonje Foundation and maybe what I can contribute.  Overall, the experience was very eye-opening and has completely changed my view of the Haitian culture.

 

Three Innocents and a Spirit

 

     The play "Three Innocents and a Spirit" was an interesting story performed completely in mime accompanied with a musical soundtrack.  The play was uniquely constructed to cover the traumatic historical encounters between the European people and the African and Amerindian.  Beginning in the 1300's and continuing through present day and beyond, the story helped illustrate to the audience the true interaction between these two different types of people.  I found it fascinating to see how different these encounters were; they were much different then I would have ever imagined.  In history classes all through school it seems we are always taught to think that we were kind to the African and Amerindians and other people here on the continent before us, however, in actuality that is not the case.  The play illustrated the European mistreatment of the Africans and Indians which continued through the centuries.

      The message of the play seemed to suggest that we as European descendents should learn from our past mistakes in history and make it a point not to repeat similar actions.  Never again should we be masked enough by greed that we force a select group of people into hard labor and punishment, never again should we instruct a total genocide of a particular race.  This is a time for healing and reconciliation and a chance to make things right between the races our ancestors originally mistreated.  Together everyone helping each other can make an enormous difference.

     The play I found both inspirational and moving.  I thought the actors did a great job and I was very impressed by their acting capabilities.

     I have just a few questions to ask the members of the cast and they are:

1.  How long have you been working on this play?

2.  What persuaded you, or inspired you to create a play of this nature?

3.  What do you hope the audience gets out of the performance?

4.  What is the most difficult part about performing a play based entirely on movements and miming?