International cooperation of fringe ensemble, Bonn, and the Department of Music and Dance of the University of Cape Coast in co-production with the Center for National Culture Ghana and the Theater im Ballsaal in Bonn
In cooperation with the fishing community of Alewebesi
Director, Artistic Director Frank Heuel, Eric Debrah Otchere
Set, video, costumes Annika Ley, Mawukplorm Harriet A. Adjahoe
Camera documentation Bismark Larbi Ofori
Sound, recordings, post-production Jehoshaphat Sarbah
Dramaturgy, co-direction Madinatu Bello
Press and public relations Claudia Grönemeyer
Production management, management Svenja Pauka, Maxwell Quainoo
Performers, musicians, fishermen David Chapman Quayson, MandyKimberley Sampson, Humfrey Doku, Jehoshaphat Sarbah, Mawulikplim Paa Kwesi Adjahoe, S.K, Panity, Shark, Happy Love
Performance dates
Thu 27 November 2024, 7 pm – Premiere
Fri 28 November 2024, 7 pm
Center of National Culture, Cape Coast
Stories told by locals on the Ghanaian coast are often about fishing, processing and selling fish. No wonder, as fish is the main source of food for large parts of the population and traditional fishing is the livelihood of around ten percent of the people who live here. For a long time, the Ghanaian coast was one of the richest fishing waters in Africa. However, the country now has to import protein-rich food from abroad – for its own population, who can hardly afford the high prices, if at all.
The lives of local Ghanaian fishermen have become precarious. In addition to overfishing by international companies, the consequences of environmental pollution and the climate crisis threaten their existence. Storm surges and rising sea levels are destroying their living and working space.
“Listen to the Fishers” lets the indigenous fishermen and their families have their say. In the songs of the fishermen, which they sang during their work, especially when hauling in the nets sing, they talk about their current situation, their life on and by the sea. For our performance in Cape Coast we are working with the songs, with film recordings and the stories told to us in interviews. The ensemble includes some of the fishermen, Ghanaian actors and musicians.
For “Stories from the Ghanaian Coast” in Bonn, we are using the edited material for a lecture performance with a German actor and two Ghanaian artists living in Germany.
Funded by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
and the City of Bonn
