Ottawa Fringe Festival 2016: Fugee well directed, acted, and well worth your time

Fugee
Production: Third Wall Academy
Created by Abi Morgan
Directed by James Richardson

Kojo is a refugee fron Ivory Cost. He is only 14, but has already lived a very adult life. When he was only 11, soldiers kidnapped him, took to a training camp and made a solder out of him. He watched soldiers kill his parents and younger brother, suffered unkindness of all kinds and was made to kill. Finely, he escaped, and with a fake visa, came to England, where he was put in a safe place for unaccompanied minors. There he lives with other children, none of whom speaks English. The only thing common to all is the horror they once lived through and managed to escape.

Kojo’s styory is not told  in chronological order. On the contrary, Fugee starts with the last scene of the story – the moment when Kojo kills a young man on the street. From that first scene untill the last one, the play is constructed through a numbe of snapshots: children bonding, falling in love, telling their war experience, Kojo remembering his parents, and finally, the moment when, due to miscommunication, the system in England accuses him of a false identity and kicks him out of the safe place. Scene by scene, Kojo’s story unfolds, and by the end, all snapshots fall in place and make a perfect unity.

This bleak story, based on human tragedy and misery is a huge task for any artist, let alone young adults, but young actors from Third Wall Academy prove to be ready for it. Especially impressive is Patrick Bugby, who portrays Kojo with superb conviction. His facial expression and his body language tell volumes about a lost, angry, and above all, confused young boy, who is deprived of his childhood twice. This simple but beautiful story is well directed, and well worth your time.

Fugee plays at Academic Hall: 

Sunday, June 19 7:30pm

Monday, June 20 11:00pm

Thursday, June 23 6:00pm

Saturday, June 25 9:30pm

 

 

Production: Third Wall Academy

Created by Abi Morgan

Directed by James Richardson