« Un fou noir au pays des blancs » a storytelling show by Pie Tshibanda
Wallonia-Brussels International and the Alliance française de Glasgow are delighted to welcome Congolese storyteller Pie Tshibanda for the first time in the UK for a unique performance of his popular show ‘Un Fou noir au pays des Blancs’.
In ‘Un Fou noir au pays des Blancs’, Pie Tshibanda tells his own story, one of an African man arriving from Congo to Belgium claiming political asylum. Embarrassing witness and threatened with death in his own country, Tshibanda must flee to Brussels where he arrives in the cold winter of 1995. From the first moment when he is searched by security, he understands a few things: he is alone, he is black, and he has just lost his respectability. That’s where his journey through administrations to get his status of political refugee starts.
This endless personal journey will turn into a real initiation not only for the main character but also for the wider western community where he will gradually manage to settle.
Through storytelling and always with great humour and ingenuousness, Pie shares with his audience his experience of a stranger discovering a new country and a new way of life. The cultural shock is tough and his storytelling forgets no details, from the unsympathetic administration employees to the first contacts with his new neighbours and the first encounters with racist prejudices…
‘Un Fou noir au pays des Blancs’ is adapted from Tshibanda’s book of the same name published by the Editions Pré aux sources in 1999.
‘Pie was brave enough to come to us. Today, people are rushing to see him, moved by this unexpected sun. ‘ Le Soir (Belgium)
‘It is often funny, sharp, very enlightening: we learn, how surprising, that we occidental people are not very good in terms of hospitality and still need some perfecting classes.’ Le canard enchainé (France)
Click on the link to watch an extract.
On Pie Tshibanda
Pie Tshibanda is a writer and storyteller but also a psychotherapist and professor of Humanities. Born in Congo in 1951, he came to Brussels in 1995, where he started to tell his story in schools. He started to perform on stage in 1999 after his book was published. But that’s only in 2001 that he became highly popular and started touring all over the world. In 2006, he celebrated his 1000th performance. When he is not on stage, Tshibanda is involved in many projects supporting education in Belgium and in Congo.
Date: Wednesday 21st March 2012
Venue: Alliance française de Glasgow, 3 Park Circus, G3 6AX
Contact details: 0141 331 4080 / admin@afglasgow.org.uk
Two shows are planned :
■ ■ Show for Higher/ Advanced Higher/University students: 2pm-3pm
Free for schools/students when booking in advance.
■ ■ Show for everyone: 6.30pm-8pm Show in French (Advanced level - minimum B1) : £5.
Early booking recommended.
In partnership with
