Mwana and the Turtle’s Secret

PLAY SUMMARY

Spun from an Aftrican tale, this is the beautiful story of a courageous young girl named ‘‘ Mwana ‘‘ who lives in a village deep in the forest. Every day, a giant monster comes and steals the villagers’ food. When Mwana proposes confronting the giant, the Village Chief wonders how such a little girl could defeat a monster that no one has ever been able to stop. Is there a secret that only Mwana knows? The play takes the audience on a theatrical journey of courage, love and friendship as it explores the French proverb “ We often need someone smaller than ourselves ”. The story is told by Canadian and Congolese performers and uses a range of theatrical art forms, including puppets, shadow theatre and object theatre.

CREATIVE TEAM

Ideator: Patricia Bergeron, Patience Bonheur F. Mupolonga, Marie-Ève Lefebvre and Steve Beshwaty
Text and adaptation: Patricia Bergeron in collaboration with Patience Bonheur F. Mupolonga
Director: Patricia Bergeron
Assistant director: Marie-Ève Lefebvre
Performers: Patience Bonheur Fayulu Mupolonga and Patricia Bergeron
Set and costume designer: Fanny Bisaillon Gendron
Illustrations, visuals and mask: Steve Beshwaty
Puppets and mask: Salim Hammad
Shadow theatre: Marie-Ève Lefebvre
Lighting: Mathieu Marcil
Music: Dumisizwe Vuyo Bhembe