A Glimpse of Myself
I embrace the opportunity to share a defining moment of my life
The most joyful episode of my childhood took place in a small forest set up as a theatre. This story is delightful and will give you an understanding of who I am.
At the age of 10, I decided to create a show with the help of my friends. It involved stand-up comedy, a short play, singing and dancing.
I grew up in Les Collines de Tamaris, a dreamy area in La Seyne-sur-mer. The town sits in the Provence region located in the south east of France. Les Collines was at the time a newly built apartment complex in the middle of a forest. It was an idyllic place to raise children as they could play outside for hours with no fear of anything bad happening.
I was the kind of child who loved books, one of my teachers stated that my head was always in the clouds. I loved the poems of Jean de La Fontaine as well as plays from Moliere. Being raised by Senegalese parents meant that music became an important part of my childhood. Every morning, my three brothers and seven sisters would sing along to our favourite songs.
Outside, my friends and I would spend hours practising the latest dance steps, climbing trees or laughing at the latest jokes made by Les Inconnus, a trio of stand-up comedians.
One day, I was overcame by sadness as the summer was coming to an end. Something had to be done to get the better of this state of mind. A quote from Jean de La Fontaine hit my thoughts: “Even if happiness forgets you a little… Never completely forget about it”, there and then I decided to organise a show.
My plan of action was the following: prepare invitations, choose the best actors, singers and dancers among friends and family, write two stand-up comedy sketches inspired by Les Inconnus, a short play and finally set up two dance numbers (Holiday from Madonna and Alexandrie Alexandra, from Claude Francois were the best songs to dance on at the time).
At the end of the show, I wanted to have a small party so tickets were sold in advance at a cost of 2 francs. The money raised enabled me to buy snacks and drinks for 20 people, donation was encouraged as I did not want to run out of anything!
It was also important to prepare the set, so my friends and I cleared an area in the forest and used tree branches to make a stage that would have made Moliere proud. We also managed to get old sheets for the audience to sit on as well as a stereo kindly provided by a neighbour. We rehearsed everyday for a week, it was hard work but completely worth it.
The show was a great success, I cherish that memory and without knowing it at the time, it defined my future.
When I became an adult, I went on to study in four different Universities: Aix-en Provence, Liverpool, La Reunion and Bristol. I wanted to see the world without compromising my studies. Life as a student was blissful thanks to being able to stay hours in the library, I loved discovering new authors, learning new topics and losing myself in books.
I wrote my first play titled “Kande” few years after graduating, it’s about the life of a little Senegalese girl who joins her parents in France. The play was performed at the King’s Head Theatre in London, quite an upgrade for a girl who started to perform in the forest of Les Collines de Tamaris! I wrote, directed and acted in “Kande”, this is my pride and joy.
“Welcome to London…No Scousers Allowed” is my only play in English, unfortunately it hasn’t been performed on a stage as motherhood took over! After having a child, writing took a backseat even though I would occasionally set up theatre clubs in children’s centres. One of my favourite stories is “Father Christmas Has Disappeared!” My daughter Maryam and my husband (who is Egyptian) inspired me.
Now a new chapter in my life has started as I am part of Illumination. I want to take this opportunity to formally thank Dr Mehmet Yildiz for taking a chance on me. It is exciting and scary but I embrace the challenge and hope readers will enjoy my work.
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