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AS ORAÇÕES DE MANSATA​

As Orações De Mansata​ ​ ​(2007)

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"The Mansata Prayers" is an adaptation of Macbeth to the African reality. (...) Abdulai Sila's work is the first play by Guinea-Bissau to be written and whose action takes place in the postcolonial period. In fact, it is one of the first post-independence pieces in all of Africa. (...) Those who read the piece really look at the writing of a dramatic poem in Portuguese, with a captivating mix of words from Guinea-Bissau Creole and indigenous languages, especially Mandinka. For the viewer, notwithstanding the scenes of violence, Mansata's Prayers is a theatrical representation both visually and orally appealing. (...) There is no doubt that through its form and content "The Prayers of Mansata" contributes, philosophically, socially and artistically, to our understanding of various aspects of the reality of the world in which we live today. It is to be hoped that in the not too distant future there will also be an internationally distributed film based on this original and main work by Abdulai Sila, a pioneer in the field of cultural expression in Guinea-Bissau, as well as in all Portuguese-speaking African countries. (PALOP) and indeed the entire Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP).

 

Russel G. Hamilton

Preface to the edition of the work (Cena Lusófona, 2010)