BY DESALEGN DAGNEW
We are naked under our clothes….
An art work plays a role at three exclusive periods—the past, the present and the future. Without these three time frames art, by itself, could not stand as art – that is a drama a as a drama, film as a film, visual art as a visual art.
Sibihat Gebreegiziyabher’s 5…6…7… book mainly narrates about hunger. But the theme and time setting are symbolized. The idea and the period represent the past. In1977 EC, as a nation, hit by a heavy drought Ethiopia was undergoing a scary time. Though the time setting of the book was in 1981 EC, the theme is applicable for the present period as well. Because of hunger by itself is a universal issue. So, a fiction of universal significance is entitled a green light anywhere anytime.
Some scholars entertained the view that the might of art is lethal than that of a nuclear power. Some also argued drama that hit the stage is more beautiful and more realistic than the one we lead in a day-to-day activity. That seems to be true, because observers could find best clowns only on the stage, best toppers on the stage or we look huge sacrifices in the film. That is why scholars think life on the stage as life enjoying esthetic beauty than the real one. Elements of life are outnumbered by elements of drama. That is the reason why art exceeds the real one.
The title
5….6…7 …
Both the monologue and the fiction narrate about five children, plus a mother (6 people) and plus a father (7 people). Given five children breathed their last, if one mother is added to the set, it is to indicate the death of the sixth person in the form of the mother 6 is included in the title. The author argued the death of a child is not the death of him/her alone; it is also the death of the mother, who turns out to be more dead than alive
By the same token both the mother’s and the children’s deaths results in the father’s death. Altogether seven deaths surface— five children, one mother and one father. The grief is deep .The death of a mother of five children for a husband is the worst grief in the world. As per our norm, the worst grief is assumed to be fathers’ grief as they could not withstand their family’s loss— their better half and their offspring. That is the other philosophy of the drama. The idea
Sibhat wrote the book about a family which perished due to hunger; the father has lost his five children and his wife to hunger; the monologue revolves around the worst side or the grotesque faces of hunger. It touches everybody.
Genre; tragedy
The theme
Famishment is so bad that it could compel one to devour a human flesh.
Setting and character
Both the settings of the fiction and the monologue take place somewhere around a grave. The sole character is the father Besufekad. But there are other imaginary characters not placed on the stage
Conflict
Drama without conflict is consultancy. Conflict is the one and the major element of drama. The best part of the 5…6…7… monologue scene is the conflict, which is not set out only on one dimension. This makes the theme strong.
Man with man, man with God, man with humanity. We look all these types of conflicts with in fifteen minutes.
About the monologue
Tobiya literary evening with a lot of works of art is outreaching the audience after getting a green light from the government anew after slackening due to COVID 19. In this piece, I only want to talk about a monologue of Sibhat G/Egziabher 5…6…7… book which is adapted to a stage drama.
When we zoom in on acting; the actor is Fitsum kebede. The act takes fifteen minutes. The character somewhat lacks a grief stricken features, costumes and materials. The grief which Bersufikad suffered from the loss of his family is tear-jerking and heart- wrenching. The character came on the stage emerging out of the audience. The character begins the scene sleeping on the stage. He begins the dialogue reclining that way.
//…Judah paid his debt committing a suicide.
…What about me..? Who is going to do that for me?
… We are naked under our clothes…
…Forgive me the Son of David…I am the worst sinful man in the world.///
/a dialogue taken from the monologue /
…. The drama when played out in this way it can create a more dramatic mood on the stage.
Materials
5…6…7… book of monologue needs more skilled and gifted actors. It as well needs more materials on the stage. Without backdrops, makeup artists, costumes or stage-related things /materials the character uses/ creating the required vibe will be demanding. Had the author’s imagined character exactly came on the stage the above prerequisites fulfilled the monologue would have more power than such plays staged ever since.
Summery
A director’s attitude shapes the whole mood of a drama. That is why directors are instrumental in rendering life for a play than the playwrights do. In general, the monologue, by itself, creates a pin-drop silence. It also conveys or hammers in humanity and sympathy among the audience. What if I find myself in the victim’s shoe (sympathy) is a common characteristic feature of art. Mostly, the present time we are in also echoes the theme of the fiction. The two time periods have a close relationship and a shared idea. This is the wisdom of directors carrying across the message anew, the writer scribbles only once, swinging both the period and the art is another art. The Ethiopian Herald may 18/203
