Debebe Eshetu on Q

All those of you who are concerned about theatre, or the developing world, or theatre in the developing world, must listen to today’s Q from CBC Radio 1. The middle item is an interview with Debebe Eshetu, the most famous actor and director both on stage and in film from Ethiopia. (He was in Shaft in Africa, which has been his only real exposure in North America before now. I certainly had never heard of him. But he’s really big in Ethiopia.) In the interview, he talks about the state of theatre in Ethiopia with specific reference to the political climate there. Eshetu stood for election a few years ago as part of a party of reformers and after sweeping the election results was subsequently thrown in prison for 22 months for treason. He is now in North America working on producing some material he wrote in prison and publishing his memoirs.

In response to the question of whether he is afraid of returning to Ethiopia after his travels abroad:

‘No matter what, I will still go back, because I have promised the Ethiopian people—not only the artists, but the Ethiopian people who fought for my freedom—those who are here in Canada, in the United States, in Europe, in the Scandinavian countries—Ethiopians in the diaspora have really fought for us. They fed our family. They liberated us. They fought to the court(?). They were out on the streets with the cold weather in winter when it was thirty-five below zero. How can I forget that? And what will I say to—what will I say to my children when they say, “Why did you run away?” Will I tell them, “I was scared”? No, I can’t. I have to go back.’

Asked for his thoughts on the future of theatre in Ethiopia:

‘I think each individual artist must start fighting for his own freedom. We must be able to communicate with the public, not on [sic] a translated play, but on the actual fact that is happening in the country. We must teach the public what they should do to get their freedom, to be able to live in their country, to be able for the children to go abroad, get their education, and go back home instead of staying outside their country. They should start developing their country. So the artists have the major responsibility, because they have a straightforward communication. Because they have the respect of the people, the people listen to the artists. The artists are part of the human society.’

The podcast of the whole show can be downloaded here; the bit with Debebe Eshetu begins at 16′ 05″.