The Agoodjie never stop inspiring artists. After the Hollywood peplum The Woman King, it was a young Ivorian director, Vincent de Paul Kouamé, who staged the epic of the Dahomey Amazons in Abidjan. RFI attended a performance on Saturday February 25 at the Cultural Factory.
With our correspondent in Abidjan, Marine Jeannin
” We are warriors, not mere women! “, we chant on stage. There is no decor and only a few accessories. There are just five actresses, their acting and their singing, to revive a piece of Dahomey history. A story inspired by real events, promises its director Vincent de Paul Kouamé:
” There is the leader, the one who formed Agoodjie, the one who was at the head of a legion, who fled. And the Queen Mother has launched three warriors after her to find her. The Amazons of Dahomey truly existed. So it’s part of the story of Africa that we want to tell. »
And the success was triumphant. The Amazons even got a standing ovation. Installed in the front row, the slammer Sabrina Tongban, was conquered:
” Agoodjie was a piece that really revolutionized something in me. It’s like I’m one with the room. It’s as if I lived what they lived on stage. I could feel every emotion, I could really immerse myself in the story they were telling. »
After winning second prize at the Rencontres Théâtrales d’Abidjan last year, the company now hopes to be able to show its Amazons at FITMO, the Ouagadougou International Theater Festival.
► To read also: Cinema: “The Woman King” resuscitates the legend of the Amazons of Benin
