Ala Ala! The Self-Love Play: The Creation of A Theatre for the Dreamers

Author

Sondai NaNaBuluku, Bard CollegeFollow

Date of Submission

Spring 2020

Academic Program

Theater

Project Advisor 1

Jean Wagner

Project Advisor 2

Jonathan Rosenberg

Abstract/Artist's Statement

My journey as an artist began with joy and exhilaration, the feeling that I was carving out a little groove in the world situated for me and only me. Along the way, I learned a few lessons. One of which being that dreams don’t offset the harsh realities of capitalist America. I witnessed my father, a proud owner of two college degrees, lying in a hospital bed because of illness, hungry because food stamps were being held up, and prideless because the next paycheck wasn’t coming. I would tell my dad through these experiences that I wanted to be a writer, to make stories that would illustrate what our lives entailed in this world. I told my dad this because this was my heartfelt dream. Even in the deep darkness that is poverty, that is hopelessness, my dad never demeaned or made me compromise this dream. “Go for it son. Prove that this is your dream.” A play that would illustrate not only that you should follow dreams passionately but a play that would shed light on the reasons for why you should be doing it. That was how I would prove it. It is not despite poverty or fear for your livelihood that you should pursue your dreams but it is because of these aspects of life that you should chase these dreams. That is the spiritual essence that brought me to the writer’s table to prove it. That is the essence that in time brought forth Ala Ala! The Self-Love Play.

Open Access Agreement

Open Access

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

NaNaBuluku, Sondai, "Ala Ala! The Self-Love Play: The Creation of A Theatre for the Dreamers" (2020). Senior Projects Spring 2020. 293.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2020/293