Source: Brookline
The struggle for women’s rights takes a much different form in Nigeria.

“The main things that affect women in all cultures have kept Nigerian women in a subservient way,” says Ifeoma Fafunwa, whose “Hear Word! Naija woman Talk True,” a staged dramatization of women’s issues in her homeland that she wrote and directs, will be performed this weekend at the Harvard Dance Center.

“All the things that hint at ownership of women still exist,” she says. “But in the ‘70s, when European and American women came to Africa, they talked about equal pay and work. African women already had work, and a vote. Women were the head of the local market, and if they wanted to shut off food for everyone, they could.”

A shift in that power came from colonialism, and its consequences are still being felt.

“You had all these white males coming to Africa - not a woman in sight. Their goal was to take the resources and send them back to Europe. They scattered all manner of power, got rid of the spiritual aspects, and dissolved the farming structures.

“When you start looking at the history of women’s rights, it might have been more advanced in Africa.”

“Hear Word!” has run for three years in Nigeria but makes its American debut in these American Repertory Theater - sponsored productions. The production is presented by the Center for African Studies in association with the ART, Division of Social Sciences, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Harvard Dance Center, the Harvard University Committee on the Arts, The Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, the Harvard Law School, the Mahindra Humanities Center, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and the Theater, Dance & Media Concentration at Harvard University. It folds real-life stories into 20 dramatic monologues. Almost a dozen actors and musicians interpret the works.

Fafunwa, the daughter of an American expatriate teacher and a Nigerian Ibo native, was born in Lagos. She came to school in America, attending UMass Amherst, and stayed for several decades, practicing architecture at first but becoming increasingly interested in theater.

She returned to Nigeria 14 years ago, and has directed a number of works by Nigerian playwrights, as well as a successful run of the “Vagina Monologues.” This American debut production of “Hear Word!” is part of a Radcliffe Institute residency that includes four performances, multiple in-class visits and panel discussions.

“These are discrete stories, based on real interviews,” she says. “The first half of the play reveals the issues, and the second half shows people who have overcome these issues. There are many things that affect the rights of women in Nigeria - rape is a problem in our culture.

“If a woman goes to the police station to report a rape, she is asked for 50 naira to pay for reporting the crime. And if they have to go get the perpetrator, she has to put petrol in the pickup truck. But this is only one of the things that puts pressure on Nigerian women.”

“Hear Word!” has found success on Nigerian stages, and Fafunwa hopes this tour, which includes other American dates and a run in Amsterdam, will help attract attention and support for the production.

“We’ve had about 30 performances during three seasons in Nigeria,” she says. “The arts are not as well funded there. But we’ve always sold out, and we’ve had many come back for repeat visits. I would say that it was mainly women who came the first time, but afterward, the men started coming with them.

“We have a lot of class visits on this trip,” she says. “I hope that we can reflect, and have a rounder view, shine a light on African women, and get a deeper understanding.”

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