BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Whether you're a theatre aficionado or you just enjoy supporting local arts, it's a guarantee you have never seen the Bowling Green High School's fall play "From One World to Another." That's because the piece is a completely original work, penned by a team of student script writers over the course of several months.
In addition to its originality, the work is also highly unique.
"A lot of people ask me what the show’s about, and I always tell them the same three things: it’s about aliens, Dolly Parton and a small, landlocked country in west Africa called Burkina Faso," Rory Mott, the head script writer, said.
The project is a product of continual cultural exchange with a teacher and her students in Burkina Faso. Dhia Sanogo, a Burkinabè English teacher, initially collaborated with JoBeth Gonzalez, the BGHS Drama Director, as partner teachers in 2017 as a part of the Teachers for Global Classrooms program, an initiative through the U.S. State Department. Having continued their working relationship over the years, Gonzalez and Sanogo decided to collaborate by way of theatre as a form of cultural exchange.
BGHS Drama also applied for and received grants from the U.S. Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund's Global Ties program and the BG Community Foundation. The grant funds have not only supported the funds necessary to put on the show, but are also allowing Sanogo to come to Bowling Green to watch the performance.
Gonzalez and Sanogo tasked the students with crafting a play that included folktales of Burkina Faso, and stories culturally important in the United States. After extensive research on Burkinabè stories and culture, the students had to select a figure to represent culture in the U.S.: they decided to write about Dolly Parton.
"They realized that the United States is so young and so full of multiple cultures from our origin, they wanted to pick an icon from our own history, and they decided that Dolly Parton would be someone who they would celebrate," Gonzalez said.
As for the aliens, the decision was somewhat more impromptu:
"The first problem was a framing device," script writer Alexandra Parish said. "We had a lot of options, and I literally just said the word 'alien,' and we kind of went from there."
The process of writing the script took all summer. The team of writers met frequently to compose the script with Gonzalez's help.
“At first it was a lot of bouncing ideas off of each other," writer Slayer Porter said. "At one point we all made little versions of what we thought we wanted it to be until we made the final product. And we’ve kept revising it over until today, basically.”
The revision process included help from the cast during rehearsals in a unique, highly-collaborative process. Many of the lines were created and refined from cast improvisations.
"I think there’s got to be at least one line that every student who’s in the cast has been able to contribute," Gonzalez said. "I think one of the most empowering things is when our students have ownership of the project, not just how they feel about it. When it really is theirs."
Burkinabè folktales, Dolly Parton and aliens do have more in common that you might think, at least among the pages of "From One World to Another". The plot follows four people: two from Burkina Faso and two from the U.S., specifically in Ohio. The aliens are in need of a single test subject, but a miscommunication meant they accidentally abducted four.
To decide who must stay with the aliens (they aren't going to leave the planet empty-handed) and who is allowed to leave, the abductees hold a storytelling competition. Whoever tells the worst story, as judged by the aliens rendered impartial by an alien device placed on the storyteller's head, will be taken away. The other three will be free to go. Hijinks, of course, ensue.
But don't expect the storytelling to be idle: the other actors will perform the stories as they are spoken aloud, bringing narratives from both Burkina Faso and the U.S. to life before the audience's eyes. As they are acted out, one thing becomes clear: though the contents of stories may be different across cultures, themes of generosity and kindness remain universal.
"I'm hoping there will be a sense of recognizing that we're here on this Earth to help each other, to support each other, and that there's great value in discovering as much about ourselves when we meet people who are different, as those who live in another place," Gonzalez said.
No show is possible without the hard work of a tireless production crew. They work behind the scenes to ensure sets, costumes and props are ready to go for actors. From saws to paint, the tools they use require skill and creativity.
“One day we can basically be doing painting, the other day we can be doing foam, and so today we’re all working on different props," Kylee Knauss of the props department said. "We’re working on this really cool head thing...it’s an alien device, and I’m working on a bullhead, and it definitely varies."
The writers, some of whom double as actors, said they hope audiences will feel inspired to learn about other cultures and ideas after watching the show.
"In theatre you interact with a lot of different people and you have to understand those people to make a good show," writer Isaac Sands said. "All the world’s a stage, so try to understand your co-actors the best you can, whether they be from Ukraine, whether they be from Burkina Faso, whether they be from the United States.”
You can see the world premier of "From One World to Another" at Bowling Green High School Performing Arts Center on Nov. 2, 3 and 4 at 7 p.m., and Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. A talkback will follow the shows during which Sanogo will come on stage to answer audience questions regarding the play and Burkina Faso.
Tickets are free, but donations are accepted at the door to support the Drama Department.
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