FringeNYC 2013: The Madogs of Diego
Historical Drama based on Chagossians people of Diego Garcia how they were kicked out of their homeland by the British to allow the Americans to build a Military Base. A Fascinating Story of Colonialist Exploitation.
Official production websiteShow details/ticketing at FringeNYC
Review by Mitchell Conway · August 16, 2013
Two Mauritians crawled across a stage littered with coconuts and fishing nets, acting as dogs, and made direct contact with the audience in this form. The people of Diego Garcia, called Chagossians, were treated like dogs, ousted from their island in a political deal gaining the US a location for a new military base via the British after the Second World War.
Also, as the Chagossians were deported to Mauritius, their populous pet dogs were thrown into a huge bonfire. The gesture of a Mauritian group coming to the New York International Fringe Festival with The Madogs of Diego about how our empire affected their people has a weight that is encapsulated by their humorous yet degrading, with anger and sadness behind the playfulness, performance as dogs for an audience of Americans.
Written and directed by Gaston Valayden, the story focuses on a brother and sister, Vincent and Sylvie, in the lead up to deportation. Christopher Ratsizaonen bursts with energy as Vincent, and Aarti Tacouri is sweet and caring as Sylvie. Marsel H Poinen plays Ton Zozef, their father who is especially unwilling to leave the place he has lived out his entire life. It felt like hints of an idyllic recent past generation’s life, with an easy-going family and fishing life, yet struggling to remember or hold on to it. Even before being expelled, Chagossians worked for the Mauritians, who were ordered by the British.
As Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar, was struggling for its independence from Great Britain, the eager candidate for prime minister (played as overwhelming feeble by Valayden) was forced to concede the island of Diego Garcia in negotiations with the British Officer (played severely by Marsel H Poinen). Valayden also plays a cocky sunglassed American Officer, who can simply ask the British to do the dirty work. For a while, Chagossians thought they had achieved independence with Mauritius, only to soon discover they would have to leave the island they were born on. They were compensated for the loss of their land, but still had no choice in the matter. I walked away from the theatre imagining how I would feel if I was forcibly expelled from Queens. But even there, there’s no comparison.
The Madogs of Diego is one of many forgotten stories of people in the developing world bending at the influence of our political and military strength. These four Mauritian actors had the strength to ask us, “Do you see what you’ve done?” And maybe implicitly, “Do you care?”
Preview: Interviews with Artists from The Madogs of Diego
We're asking artists from each show to answer questions about themselves and their work to help our readers get a detailed advance picture of the festival:
The Five W's · trup sapsiway (Director)
- Who are your favorite directors?
None in Mauritius - What's your favorite pastime when you’re not working on a play?
Reading and football - Where did you get your training in theater?
On the spot training as there is no drama school in Mauritius - When did you know you wanted to work in the theater, and why?
When I was 7 years old I believed that actors were magicians - Why did you want to direct this show?
I wanted to show how this play can move an international audience
The Five W's · trup sapsiway (Actor)
- Who are your heroes?
Marlon Brando, Robert de Niro and Al Pacino - What do you like most about the character you are playing in this show?
How he changes his personality on different occasions - Where did you get your training in theater?
On the spot training as there is no drama school in Mauritius - When did you know you wanted to work in the theater, and why?
When I was 7 years old I believed that actors were magicians - Why are theater festivals important?
They bring together people and artists from different parts of the world
Many Faces of Theater · trup sapsiway (Director)
- What type of theater do you like most to work on?
Drama - What is your signature style or aesthetic as a director?
Bare stage or minimum decors - Are audiences in New York City different from audiences in other cities/countries where you’ve worked? If so, how?
Don’t know - Where would be your ideal working environment: New York in 2013, Shakespeare’s Globe, the theater of Sophocles and Euripides, Stanislavski’s Moscow Art Theater?
New York 2013 as I don’t know about the others - Groucho, Chico, Harpo, or Zeppo?
None
Journey to FringeNYC · Gaston Valayden (Director)
- Tell us about the process you used to achieve your vision of this play in this production.
Before starting with the rehearsals, I get all the actors(including myself) to familiarize themselves with the history of the Chagossians(inhabitants of Diego Garcia) and their life on the island. - What are some of your previous theater credits? (Be specific! Name shows, etc.)
I have written about 10 plays mainly in Mauritian creole: Baraz(The Hedge),Mediapoli,The tie, Abe Mwa?(What about me?)and my latest one Letiket(The Tag) - If this is your first appearance in FringeNYC -- why did you want to be part of this festival? If you have appeared in FringeNYC before, tell us what show(s) you have done here previously. What about your prior experience led you back to this festival?
I strongly believe that People in New York will learn about other people living on the other side of the world. - Why are theater festivals important?
They are the meeting place for artists as well as artists and audiences where sharing(ideas and culture) take place - What was the most memorable/funny/unusual thing that has happened during the development and rehearsal process for this show?
Trying to persuade our Minister of Culture that New York is different from San Francisco though they are found in the US
All About My Show · Gaston Valayden (Writer)
- Complete this sentence: My show is the only one in FringeNYC that...?
will deal with the tragedy of displaced people - What do you think this show is about? What will audiences take away with them after seeing it?
People will become aware of how politicians look at their own interest irrespective of what the common people think - Why did you want to write this show?
I want to tell the 'untold and unwritten' story of the inhabitants of the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and how they were driven out of their birthplace to make way for a military base. - Who are some of the people who helped you create this show, and what were their important contributions to the finished product?
Marsel Poinen,Aarti Tacouri and Christopher Ratsizaonen are the actors. Lorven Vydelingum is our sound/light technician and Linley Jean for the musical score - Which character from a Shakespeare play would like your show the best: King Lear, Puck, Rosalind, or Lady Macbeth -- and why?
None of these Characters
Gianfranco Lentini reviews Waiting For Waiting For Godot
“There’s nothing [everything] to be done” about Waiting for Waiting for Godot at the 2013 New York International Fringe Festival. Written by Dave Hanson and directed by...
Julie Congress reviews The Magic Mirror
The Magic Mirror, an opera with 14 singers and a live orchestra of seven (plus a conductor!), has a sound of a magnitude unlike any other FringeNYC show. Yet while an auditory...
Andrew Rothkin reviews The Young Olympians and The Most Amazingly Awesome Adventure Ever
What do you get when you combine ancient Greek mythology with puppetry, pop
culture, a wacky quest, and some fun and catchy new tunes? If you’re the
talented cast and crew of The Maryland...
Jason S. Grossman reviews The Famous Play
Two actors appear on stage and post an enormous sign with the playwright's contact information. A narrator enters and identifies himself as the playwright and describes what the audience is...
Kimberly Wadsworth reviews unbidden
Geneticist Julia Lamb, the woman at the center of Joanne Hudson’s Unbidden, is something of a mess. While researching a study into the human genome, Julia (Chelsea Leigh Barrett)...
David Koteles reviews Marshall's Law
A man and a woman are locked in a basement. A basement where dark secrets seem to be kept, waiting to be revealed. We learn the man and woman used to be best friends, until he “stole”...
Fred Backus reviews Mercedes Benz Awkwardly
Arriving from Australia to help close out the 2013 New YorkInternational Fringe Festival in its final week is Mercedes Benz Awkwardly, a raucous one-woman comedy about a first time...
Bob Stewart reviews The TomKat Project
The TomKat Project by writer Brandon Ogborn is a great example, (by this reviewer) of a perfect FringeNYC Show. It has 7 players, (including the playwright as narrator) 7 chairs, a few...
Pamela Butler reviews The Unfortunates
The late 19th century in London’s East End was not a safe place for young women plying the trade of prostitution. Women who for one reason or another fell into desperate situations, were...
Robert Weinstein reviews Quake: A Love Story
Ain’t Real Theatre Company’s Quake: A Love Story begins in the basement of a sparring couple as they go through their collective possessions after a bitter separation....
Gianfranco Lentini reviews William
1592. The end of the Renaissance is rapidly approaching, and the Baroque period is about to take the stage. Henry VI (Parts I-III) has been publicly performed, and the audience cries for...
Mitchell Conway reviews And It Spins Twice
For those interested in contemplating the implications of string theory, And It Spins Twice is a good introduction to some of the concepts that are radically altering our understanding...
