Theatre
L'Exil d'Albouri
Not translated into English
Cheikh Aliou Ndao · 1967
Synopsis
The Djolof, at the end of the nineteenth century. The governor of the colony breaks the treaties and announces the invasion. King Albouri Ndiaye refuses submission and chooses exile towards Ségou. His brother, Prince Laobé Penda, regards this departure as a dishonour and wants to fight to the death: he rallies dignitaries and part of the army, has the king's spy killed and ends up negotiating with the governor. Around the king, Queen Sêb Fall, the queen mother and the linguère Madjiguène debate honour, and the people line up behind a watchword: exile rather than slavery.
Context
The play, in nine tableaux and an epilogue, appeared in 1967 from P. J. Oswald, in Honfleur, followed by another play and prefaced by Bakary Traoré. It was staged the following year at the Daniel-Sorano national theatre in Dakar, directed by Raymond Hermantier, before winning a prize in Algiers. Ndao draws on the history of Albouri, driven out by the French in 1890, but accepts transforming it in order to make a myth of it. Critics read in it a warning against the ruling classes, feudal yesterday, bourgeois today, ready to betray the national ideal.
Who it is for
A historical play that is easy to read and fairly short. A few landmarks on the colonial conquest of Senegal help in following it.
Prizes and reception
First prize at the Pan-African Cultural Festival in Algiers in 1969, it is studied for the baccalaureate in Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.
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