All the World's a Stage

F a A n a T h e a t r e

 in Zanzibar

 founded 2021

Faana: meanings:  

Faana:   

Give one another a helping hand, do one another a favor (in Swahili)

Fana:  

Look nice/attractive, be a feast for the eye and ear (of ceremonies, parties etc.) (in Swahili) 

Fanāʾ 

In the Muslim Sufi tradition, annihilation, the complete denial of self in seeking a union with God. - Extended to cover: In theatre, an actor, wishing to lose himself through playing diverse roles, may be seen as seeking a supreme truth. (With due respect, without wishing to corrupt the original meaning)

FaAna 

Stands for Fatma Anais, who inspired the founding of our theatre.

Founder: 

Zanzibar-Norwegian dramatist Issak Esmail Issak, member of Dramatikerforbundet, Norway, and the Dramatists Guild of America. Productions include in Norway, Italy, Iran, several states in USA, South Africa, Zanzibar. Works also include several publications. At different times affiliated with University in Oslo, Nord Universitet, New York University

Background 

Theatre is not entirely new in Zanzibar, but a forgotten and not preserved and much appreciated art form in the post-64 world of political change and reorganization on the islands. There are a large number of unemployed but talented youth in Zanzibar. FaAna Theatre’s goal is twofold, - to tether some of this talent and create opportunities and a future for our Zanzibar youth, and through theatre education and performance help revive Zanzibar’s rich and fast disappearing cultural heritage, which has been under attack from unfathomable foreign influences and the influx of and misuse of the smart technologies.

Many colonial era public buildings and schools in the capital had fine theatre halls. The school and public libraries had plays by Shakespeare, Moliere, Shaw, Chekov, O’neill, Ibsen, Tagore and more. Translating that, there were plays on hand to produce, and there was the colonial school system and influence. Theatre was also popular in rural schools. Puppet shows were popular in Zanzibar, especially during Eid festivals. Probably the last proper theatre show took place on floats around the capital on the eve celebrating Zanzibar’s independence on December 10,1963. 

Soon after1964 the arts particularly lost ground. Adding to the fact that books from the shelves in general gradually disappeared and never were replaced, theatre books were given the least priority where and when book purchases may have been made. Adding to this unhappy circumstance is the fact that we soon became not only a non-writing country but worse a non-reading country. Priority for the arts remained at the bottom of several administrations’ list of priorities, which were given to technology, science, business, etc. Zanzibar’s three cinemas were promptly closed down with the advent of the videos in the 1970s.

The Zanzibar musical traditions, notably Taarab, managed to survive, as well as the traditional dances. Music and dance seduce more easily, requiring less attention and focus from the audience. Theatre, which is a more demanding medium, requiring often more active attention and perhaps intellectual deliberations, did not survive.

Theatre's very essence and basics, - a committed physical presence of actors during performances, working out of a shoestring, make theatre not an easy choice among professions. Commitment and dedication from performers are vital in the propagation of the performing arts, especially in our developing nations, for the preservation of our traditions and culture. 

FaAna Theatre’s next initiative

FaAna Theatre Festival, Zanzibar July-August 2022

The Firdausa Project

Firdausa is a three-part project: 

A. The film Firdausa, to be shot on location in Makunduchi

B.  Puppet theatre Firdausa for young and old

C. Firdausa, a ballet based on traditional dances

D. Seven 10-minute plays

E. Poetry and song evening

The performances will take place separately and on different days of the week place at various venues in Zanzibar town as well in rural Zanzibar. The aim is not only to entertain, but to demonstrate and foster understanding of the art of storytelling and theatre through closely-linked mediums.

Firdausa synopsis

Firdausa is the story of a seven-year-old orphaned girl. Setting: Makunduchi of the late 1940s-1950s. Genre: comedy, a fairy tale for the young and adults. Firdausa’s brief presence in the life of the village exposes the greed of the villagers, who after going through a spell of abundance of unearned blessings of happiness and welfare through a magical honey procured by the orphan Firdausa, discover that after all, true happiness lies in the journey of achieving one’s dreams, in the day-to-day struggle of discovery along the way. The main characters in the story are: Firdausa the orphan, Big Magical Bird, the bats singing shopkeeper, the sheha (chief), two policemen, the policeman’s flirtatious daughter, Three Thieves, villagers and various birds and animals.

Firdausa is based on a published short story, by Issak Esmail Issak. The manuscript is in English Kiswahili, and Kikae

Your support

FaAna’s ultimate goal is to stop extending a bowl or bowler hat for funds, and be a financially independent learning institution and producing company. In the meanwhile, we need your support in getting a start to learning flying.

If you would be interested in further information, donating support, please get in touch by email, a phone call, or our website. 

Thanking you, 

   FaAna’s first initiative

1. The Rite of Awakening

The Rite of Awakening, a film, was based on a Hadith about the day mankind makes an encounter with the Maker. Taken by surprise that their Maker has unconditionally offered them entry into Firdausor Jannat, - heaven, many make a rush and enter paradise. Another group is hesitant. The Creator is pleased with them, - that they had hesitated, doubting if they truly deserved Jannat. They had been asked the question “Who would rather Jahanam, - hell, avoid?”. The gates of Jannat are opened again for them. But the angel, the medium of communication between the resurrected beings and their Creator, is surprised to see a few stragglers about. “Who will not be displeased with you, who were offered the abode and pleasures of heaven twice, and both times refused?” Their representative humbly informs the angel that all their earthly deeds, among them those deemed good, were for none other than their Master, their Creator, and were not calculated either to earn paradise or avoid hell. The Angel takes them into an embrace. “Allah is pleased with you most. For today you have truly perfected love!”

The musical and the ballet element that we have adopted in “The Rite of Awakening” was inspired by Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. We were also inspired by  Scherezadeof Rimsky Korsakov.

The film was shot at one go, on location at the Mtoni Palace ruins, Zanzibar, in one day. The camera rental was too high for affordability. Length of the film: 55 minutes. Languages used in the film: Swahili, English, French, Kutchi, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian. 

2. Theatre

Parts of The Rite of Awakening were performed as theatre

3. International Poetry Recitation

Part of the evening was dedicated to recitation of excerpts from: 

A. Les Roses de Saadi, Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

B. Puedo escribir, Pablo Neruda

C. The song I came to sing, Rabindranath Tagore

D. How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43) Elizabeth Barrett Browning

E. Hva lykke er?, av Inger Hagerup

F. Utenzi wa Hati, Shaaban Robert

G. Wangu Binti, Issak Esmail Issak

H. Rumi quotes

I. Ibn Arabi quotes

The production premiered successfully at The Secret Garden of Emerson Spice, on September 12, 2021. Due to funding shortages we were unable to rent space and hold further performances.