Development of the idea
The context
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country located in the heart of West Africa. For several years, the security situation has deteriorated worryingly. According to the latest studies by the Free Afrik Institute, there were 140 attacks in 2018 alone. There is no longer a day when our news is not bereaved by the terrorist attacks. Two major outbreaks are affected: the northern region (the Sahel) and the eastern region.Sporadic attacks affect almost the entire country. It is the "leopard task system" that is practiced by terrorist groups. More than 1.000 schools are closed, putting the future of thousands of children and young people at risk. People live in constant fear. In addition, the inter-community crisis in YIRGOU, but also in ARBINDA and ZOAGA, led to the massacre of the ethnic population "Peule" by another ethnic population "Mossi" questioning the strength of our social fabric and our traditional values like joking kinship.
That is why, as an author living in this country, he is touched by this crisis and must contribute to the search for solutions and strengthening the links between all our communities. For the artist, this is an important topic and artists have a great role to play in the fight against terrorism.
The project
My residency project is therefore to write a play about these problems. Invent fictional characters, create situations that bring into play the complexity and subtlety of the subject. Denounce the causes, the consequences, the injustices and the social inequalities, in short the factors which favor the terrorism and the economic deal of this crisis.Theater is the mirror of society, so it is a writing that would be popular to reach all social strata. To write theater is also to question, to reflect through scenes and acts on our fears, our anxieties, but also on our dreams and our hopes.
This text that he intends to write will transgress the classic rules of dramatic writing. The notion of Chaos will influence the form. Chaos in language, in rhythm, in musicality. What is the poetic part of this chaos, its internal structure, its breath and its impulses?
Biography
© Goethe-Institut
Paul P. ZOUNGRANA is a very committed author, comedian and theater director from Burkina Faso. He actively participates in the fight for free expression and the blossoming of the population through writing. His collection of poems: "And if weapons became flowers" published by Editions Sankofa was written during the failed military coup of September 2015 to witness the struggle of the Burkinabè people. Always concerned about the evils that undermine his society, the theater is for him the tool par excellence to educate, claim, question and especially to raise more hope.
Several of his pieces have been staged in Africa and Europe such as: To be or not to be, The zero death, The funeral of the desert (2012), Memory (2009), The comma of history (2008), One more moment (2007) etc.
Paul P. ZOUNGRANA is also a theater director and several of his productions mark his artistic career. Among other things, "Parachutage" is an adaptation of Norbert Zongo's novel in 2018, "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare and "Verre Cassé" by Alain Mabanckou and others. He is also a well-known comedian for the Burkinabe and International charts. He plays in many great creations around the world.