On the occasion of a Franco-African theatrical meeting, the theatre company Amoros et Augustin met a collective of Ivorian artists and comedians, the Ki-Yi M’Bock Théâtre of Abidjan; together, they decided to adapt the ancestral epic of the king of Manding, Sunjata. This legend, very popular on the African continent, refers to the economic and military heyday of the kingdom of Manding (present-day Mali), during the Middle Ages, during the reign of the now legendary king Sunjata. There are very few written versions of this epic, for it has been transmitted essentially via songs. The founder of the Ki-Yi M’Bock Theatre, Cameroonian novelist Werewere Linking, wrote a dramatic version of the epic which was reworked and rewritten during the rehearsals: “We had to shorten the story, to select characters and key moments.” (interview in L’Yonne, 1st of April 1991). The definitive outline of the play is very elliptic and weaves the plot with the dialogues and the songs.

The show was the product of three months of collaborative creation in the workshops of the company from Strasbourg. It brought together the animation techniques for silhouettes and the composition of shadow scenes with the rhythms and gestures of traditional West African music and dances. For the first time, the theatre company Amoros et Augustin exclusively used mobile sources of light. The stage area was entirely occupied by the six puppeteers, dancers, comedians and musicians, who played in front of and behind a very large screen: “Silhouettes that inflate and tremble in the light which invades a screen made of white tulle; music which seems to be a character in itself; dancers who suddenly jump into the light…” (I.G., L’Yonne, 1st of April 1991)

Worried about his succession, the lion king Maghan listens to the predictions of fortune tellers and marries Sogolon Kédjou, the buffalo-woman, despite her ugliness; he has a son with her, Sunjata, who is destined to be king of Manding. This choice prompts the anger of his first wife, Sassouma Bérété, for Maghan is depriving their son, Dankara Touman, of his prestigious heritage. Young Sunjata grows up, but, at seven years old, still does not walk. The crowd rumbles against this infirm heir, becomes threatening and eventually declares Dankara Touman the head of the kingdom. Growing old, king Maghan, still believing the words of the fortune tellers, entrusts his griot to Sunjata, and by doing so, contests Dankara’s legitimacy. Exasperated, Sassouma Bérété solicits a group of witches to murder young Sunjata, but this plan fails. She demands that the griot be abducted and sent to the court of Manding’s great enemy, Soumaoro Kanté, king of Sosso. After a lively argument with his half-brother Dankara, Sunjata, driven out from the kingdom, goes into exile. He finds refuge at the court of king Mamé where he receives training and becomes a great warrior. In his absence, Soumaoro Kanté has had multiple conquests, thus leading to Dankara Touman taking flight, and to the doom of the kingdom of Manding. Called by his mother who implores him to come back in order to fulfil his destiny, Sunjata returns, applauded by the crowd. Determined, he declares war against Soumaoro Kanté. The griot relates Sunjata’s war exploits and sings his glorious posterity.