'Afiwa' takes to the stage in American premiere

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Herald-Tribune

A true heroine of the people, having stood up to the king and survived a trial through the will of the people, Afiwa (Joseryl Beckley), embraces her community as its new leader. --Photos by Lynn A. Wade/Herald-Tribune

Sold-out performances this weekend of "Afiwa," an opera by Nicholas Ballanta marked a special occasion. For the first time, the production was presented in America.

Ballanta was a prolific writer of folk operas, depicting life in Africa and combining American and British musical elements with African elements. The most popular of these was "Afiwa," and was first performed in Keta, Gold Coast, in 1936 and was performed in Freetown, Sierra Leone, as recently as 1997.

The version performed at Cottey College is modified from Ballanta's synopsis for a 1937 Freetown performance. For more photos, see Pages 4B-5B of today's Weekend Herald-Tribune.

Anani, who is Afiwa's foster father (Wes Morton) and Ayele, her foster mother (Theresa Spencer) rejoice at having saved baby Afiwa from the river, and agree to raise her as their own.

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Bravi! What a wonderful evening. Thanks to the many, many people who made the performance a reality. Patrons from all over have visited Nevada this weekend, stayed in local lodging, and eaten in local restaurants. This is great for Cottey and Nevada!

-- Posted by tfallin on Sat, Apr 17, 2010, at 3:33 PM
Yes, as Terri Fallin says, patrons from all over have visited Nevada this weekend, staying in local lodging and eaten in local restaurants...BUT what's not mentioned or rather, not clearly explained is that this weekend was "C" For Yourself Weekend at Cottey College, where prospective students and their families from in and out of state visit the Cottey campus and, by extension, Nevada MO...just clarifying, thanks!

-- Posted by mvenice on Sun, Apr 18, 2010, at 6:14 PM
All I can say is WOW!

Those Cottey girls are insanely talented.

The musical abilitites of all of the singers was just astonishing to me...

BRAVI! BRAVO and BRAVA!

-- Posted by cats_attic on Mon, Apr 19, 2010, at 9:21 AM
Yes, Merchant, it was also a college preview weekend - but the opera itself brought many dignitaries from across the country to Nevada itself, particularly Friday evening. It was terrific to have two major events happening at once on campus; C for Yourself brought in many, many more. It was a terrific weekend to showcase Nevada and Cottey College!

-- Posted by tfallin on Mon, Apr 19, 2010, at 11:52 AM
It was an honor to be a part of this production at Cottey. All of the people I got the chance to work with were very accepting and kind to me. Great job Cottey!

-- Posted by kc10 on Tue, Apr 20, 2010, at 10:24 AM

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