By MAGGIE I. JARUZEL
Attending an interactive workshop in Flint, Michigan, with cast and crew members from the South African play Truth in Translation meant different things to different members of the Benson family.
When Alex Benson heard the authentic African music, his heart flooded with memories of his childhood home in Liberia, which he hasn’t visited for almost 16 years.
For his American wife, Deborah, listening to cast members share firsthand experiences of life during and after the nation’s apartheid era was a compelling experience.
But for 11-year-old Moshe, nothing topped watching the piano player’s fingers as they glided over the ivory keys.
“I learned a lot of chords by watching him. South African music has a certain beat to it that is different from ours,” said Moshe, a sixth-grader at Carter Middle School in Clio, where he plays the alto saxophone in the school band.
He also takes piano lessons at the Flint Institute of Music, one of six sites for workshops held throughout Genesee County before and after the cast’s three public performances of the play.
The workshops -- a weeklong partnership between Flint-area nonprofit organizations and the production’s cast and crew -- explored central themes of the play, including race relations and forgiveness.
The workshops also provided an opportunity for county residents to interact with professionals who shared elements of their craft such as drumming, dance, storytelling and acting.
“The whole goal of the ‘Truth in Translation’ project was to use the creative arts as a means for social change,” said Sylvia Pittman, FIM’s Voice Department chair.
She said about 20 men and women of different ages, races, and religious backgrounds -- including members of the Flint Jubilee Gospel Choir -- participated in the workshop at the FIM in mid-September.
The South African cast and American choir took turns performing songs rooted in each nation’s past. One of the songs from the play was called “Teddy Bear,” which describes the true story of white men storming into a black couple’s home during the apartheid period and shooting the husband in the head as the wife stands by helpless.
“I was emotionally undone by that song. Everyone from Flintwas deeply moved. When it was our turn, we sang the Negro spiritual, ‘I Love the Lord,’ which seemed to connect with many of the South Africans,” Pittman said.
“The workshop was high energy, quite exciting and very educational. It was a meeting of the creative and cultural minds.”
Charles Winfrey, executive director of Flint’s New McCree Theatre, agreed. From his perspective, the exchange seemed enriching for the youth theatre’s actors and also the cast and crew of “Truth in Translation.”
“What really struck me was the instant bonding -- the kindred spirit -- between the actors and artists.”
“Truth in Translation” uses music and dialogue to recount the stories of the victims and perpetrators of apartheid. The play unfolds through the eyes of the interpreters hired to travel throughout South Africa to translate the testimony given before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) into the nation’s 11 official languages.
The Flint portion of the play’s U.S. tour was supported by the Mott Foundation through a five-month, $170,000 grant to the Flint Cultural Center Corporation to underwrite costs associated with the free public performances, the workshops and a community dinner. Additional support came from the Community Foundation of Great Flint and a diverse array of community partners.
Flint was the only Midwest venue on a U.S. tour that also included stops for performances and workshops in Colorado Springs; Dallas; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; and Washington, D.C.