Performing the Archive Lecture
Usually when I think of musicals, my mind goes to colorful costumes, catchy songs, and a simple yet intriguing plot. In contrast, when it comes to lectures, I have only ever been to a handful of interesting ones, and the rest I forget the moment I leave. When I think of archives, I picture dim lighting, dusty shelves, and towers of papers and journals I have never had a desire to read. Dr. Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin changed my point of view on all three of these concepts over the course of one lecture.
It was clear the moment she came onstage that this was not going to be any ordinary lecture. Dr. Amma is a scholar as well as a performer, and she molded them together perfectly. She began the evening with an introduction to her project, a musical called “At Buffalo” which focuses on the World Fair at Buffalo in the 20th century, specifically on the contrasting views of African Americans. She explains that her basis for creating this musical were some of the archived newspaper clippings she had found about the event.
Dr. Amma’s main point of the evening was that the best way to connect with the past was to “put it into your own body.” That is to say, to perform it for yourself. I had never considered theater as a tool to put together puzzle pieces of the past, but she demonstrated for us just how powerful it can be. Dr. Amma had the audience interact with her by standing and doing some laughing exercises. These exercises were supposed to bring us closer to the life of an entertainer named Laughing Ben. Laughing doesn’t seem like that stressful of an activity until you do it for yourself… for a really long time. Though the archives told a joyful and funny tale of Laughing Ben, we as an audience discovered first-hand that Laughing Ben put his body through a lot just to get a couple of coins from his audience.
What surprised me most about Dr. Amma’s lecture was that they commonly used the archives verbatim in their songs. Somehow, she and her creative team were able to take historical documents and transform them into very catchy songs. From the sound of it, “At Buffalo” is about as historically accurate as a musical could get (although I’ve never seen Hamilton).
Dr. Amma displayed the performer in her during her talk as well. She segued easily between her subjects through the use of lights, music, and what looked like interpretive dance across the stage. Her lecture was so entertaining and full of life that it felt like I was watching a theatrical performance. In a way, I was. This experience has completely changed my views on musicals, lectures, and archives, all without having to leave a seat. By far, this was the best and most impactful lecture I have ever attended.
