The first time I heard about community theatre, I knew that there would be problems. Having to cohabit with 10 strangers in a strange community in order to carry out an intervention would definitely bring problems so I made up my mind to let go of whatever anyone did to me.
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By the time the lecturer mobilized us to leave for our various communities, I made sure I had gotten everything I would be needing so that I wouldn't have to borrow anything from anybody to avoid problems.
The time for movement was fixed for 1 pm but as at 2:30 pm there were barely 5 people at the meeting point. The fight had already begun.
Being the group leader, I had to intervene so that we wouldn't begin the journey in such disagreement. Three of my group members were already at logger heads for keeping all of us waiting for almost an hour thirty minutes.
Leaving school late made us arrive at the community almost at night. As at then, everybody was already angry and tired and with bad blood in the air already, no one was willing to engage in any of the chores that were available to be done.
The feud soon ended when the villagers came over to the town hall to welcome us with singing, dancing and light refreshment. By the time the welcome parade was over, everybody was in talking terms again.
By the following morning we had to meet with the entire village council so I woke everyone up at 6 am to make food, do chores around the house and start getting prepared. Despite having to wake them up that early, I still had to wait till past 10 am before we set out front the house.
The village chairman had already described the village council hall to us the day before and since we were new in the village, it took us some time to locate the place. When we arrived at the council meeting, it was already past 11 am and the village high court was judging a serious case.
They had gone past us on the agenda and were not supposed to return to addressing us until the next council meeting which was the following week.
The grumbling and blame apportioning from the previous day began again and in the midst of that chaos, I called my assistant group leader and told her that I was going to take the blame if we were being queried by council. All I needed was for her to play along and help me interpret what I was going to say in English to their local dialect.
We were not summoned until 1 pm when the court was about to be dismissed. The village head reprimanded us harshly, saying that our lateness was a sign of disrespect to himself and the entire court.
I already knew that our mission in the village would not move with ease if I didn't come up with a reasonable excuse so I told him that I was the one who mixed up the roads and we ended up in the wrong part of town.
The village head turned the reprimand from the entire group to me as a person. “Person wey ask question no dey lost” he said in pidgin, insisting that I would have asked for directions from the villagers if I was confused.
After apologizing profusely, the village head asked us to state our business in their community.
When I said I would be needing the cooperation of the women and youth for rehearsals during the course of the intervention which required us to interact with the villagers and find out what their challenges were then solve it with theatrical practices such as drama, the village head began with his reprimand again.
He began warning against bringing the villagers out of their houses and leaving them waiting for us while we strolled in hours later.
Eventually when our stay was approved and we were promised their maximum cooperation, I thanked the village head and ordered my group members out of the council hall.
I gave strict warning that I was never going to take the blame for any of their mistakes again and that if they were not ready to become mature and handle their activities time consciously, I was going to ensure it reflected in the report book I was going to submit to the lecturer at the end of the intervention.
They all seemed sober, especially since those of them who understood the local dialect saw how harshly the village head reprimanded me, especially when I decided to shift the blame to myself.
The very next day when we decided to start the rehearsals, I ensured every single member of my group was at the stipulated venue 30 minutes before the proposed time.
I was never taking the blame for such crucial situation again, especially when it was truly not my fault.