The TNC premieres 'Jambo Bwana', a Christmas tale about female friendship

BarcelonaThere's a deep memory that has taken root in the mind of director and playwright Manel Dueso (Sabadell, 1953). In the 1980s, he met Samba, a young Gambian man who worked felling trees in Sant Hilari Sacalm. One day, a tree fell on him, leaving him a quadriplegic. Dueso met him in the hospital, as Samba shared a room with the director's brother, who had a similar diagnosis. "Samba was very cheerful. I looked after him. We dressed everyone up in ties, we squirted the nurses with syringes. Even in the most brutal places, funny things can happen," Dueso recalls. This is the spirit that permeates his latest show, Jambo BwanaThe play, which premieres on December 17th at the Sala Petita of the National Theatre of Catalonia, stars Montse Germán, Antonia Jaume, Àurea Márquez, and Usu Tambadou.

As a tribute to Samba and its joy, Dueso has crafted a story in the form of a tale that begins with a terrible event: Ágata (Márquez) has suffered a brutal sexual assault. Two months later, she meets up with her friends, Lola (Germán) and Laura (Jaume), and this experience awakens an uncontrollable fury for revenge in all three of them. As the show progresses, however, the initial rage subsides and transforms into acceptance and sisterhood. "Lola and Laura are also broken and wounded women who live through incredibly difficult situations. But together we take care of each other, we love each other, and we live with what has happened to us," explains Germán.

The element that will turn their emotions around is Samba (Tambadou), a street vendor they meet and decide to have dinner with. "He acts as a mirror for us and transforms us. He makes us accept that, despite misfortunes, pain, and suffering, we must look ahead," Germán points out. "They have a great time together. Samba shows that you can't live with pain forever," Tambadou adds. His character serves as a link to Africa, a place Dueso has visited on several occasions and wanted to bring to the stage. That's why the show's title comes from the Swahili song that The Lion King Disney made famous with the hugely popular "Hakuna Matata"of the tune. The montage also incorporates the song Mbube from 1939, which The Tokens covered in the 1960s under the title The lion sleeps tonight.

Summoning the magic of theatre

The bone of Jambo Bwana It is the acceptance of difference, a theme that has preoccupied Dueso for years. "In the face of tragedy, it is very important to be kind to others, to understand them, and above all, to respect them, wherever they come from. I want to explain that we can coexist perfectly," the director emphasizes. To convey this, the production takes the form of a fairy tale and reflects on classic stories. "Traditional tales are terrible and full of brutality, but then they lead us to other, more positive places," says Dueso. In this sense, the show evokes "the magic of theater" in a set design that moves away from extreme realism. "On stage there are curtains and everything is visible, because a story can be told anywhere: by the fireside, on a ship at sea, or in Africa dancing the Jambo Bwana", says Dueso.