Last Saturday, at the Abuja International Theatre Festival (ABITFA), Janice Lidell’s Who Will Sing For Lena? a monologue about a black American woman Lena Mae Baker who was unlawfully sentenced to death by electrocution in 1940s Georgia, US, was first performed on an African soil. It was a coming home, a laying to rest for the protagonist – a true to life person – as well as for actress, Makeda Solomon, who has played the character for the past 18 years.
When actress, acting coach, motivational speaker and psycho-therapist, Solomon took up the role in 2005, she promised Lena Mae, she would return her home to her motherland, Africa.
As she took her final bow, at the Brazilian Embassy Amphitheatre in Abuja, main venue of the ABITFA, sweat dripping off her shiny black skin and elegant bald head, Solomon has kept the promise she made to Lena in grand style, as the production is also scheduled to premiere at Kininso International Theatre Festival (KIFT) 2023 Lagos, The Lagos Book & Arts Festival (LABAF) 2023, and at the Lagos Fringe Festival, 2023.
Delighted with the reception and the performance’s milestone, Solomon, described it as ‘amazing experience’.
“I have been doing this for eighteen years now and I have thought about starting a new project because it’s been seen in different part of the world – Dubai, Belize, England, and America. But it was important for me as an African woman, and as someone who identifies as an African woman, though I was born in the UK, and my parents were born in Jamaica, I am seeing that wherever we are in the world, we are African women, and to me, it was a homecoming for me. Bringing Lena home is saying, “Look, sister, I have now represented your story, where we originated from. So, you can now rest in peace,” she said.
At KIFT, Solomon’s presentation will take the form of a motivational workshop featuring a young Lena Mae suitable for her children and teenage audience.
“Obviously, there is adult content in the play. So, we talked about doing excerpts from the play showing Lena as a little girl, but I will primarily work with the children, doing motivational learning practices and learning performance. For KIFT, it will be a motivational workshop than the full-blown play.”
With Lena laid to rest, Solomon is moving on to her next project, working with traumatized children and young women in building back their confidence and self-worth.
“I am thinking of establishing a theatre group for young girls, have them go through personal development where they can shine, and then, they go out into their communities, and keep it going so that each year, there are new groups of girls, in – Jamaica, England and Africa, and we will have them go out to help uplift others.
“We often think we can’t change the world. My mother said to me once, “but you can’t change the world. You are acting like you want to change the world.” And I tell her, “but mama, I have to try.” If my bit of work can affect so many lives, they then, will affect more lives, and it will spread like wildlife,” said Makeda.
A one-woman act written by Janice Lidell, Who Will Sing For Lena? was first directed by an African Jamaican, Faye Ellington, and performed by UK-born Jamaican actress, Makeda Solomon.
