Theater students trek to South Africa

By Andrea Blum

They left Detroit Metropolitan Airport as normal high school students, but were confident they would return as changed human beings.

The six teenagers from the Detroit Theatre for the Dramatic Arts headed to South Africa earlier this month for a three-week tour where they will meet and perform for hundreds of school children, university students and even South African President Nelson Mandela.

During the early part of their journey, the group will be welcomed by the U.S. Embassy in South Africa before moving on to the township of Mamelodi to entertain an audience of invited school children.

They later will perform at the University of Transkei for Mandela, other dignitaries and students from neighboring schools.

Mandela will retire from office next year, and Mlulami Singapi, vice-consul of South Africa, said the visit is a fitting contribution to the country's celebration of Mandela's legacy.

"It is groundbreaking in the sense that it corresponds with the new life that President Mandela will be taking," he said.

"There is no better way to get people talking and get them to know each other better than through cultural expressions."

Other stops for the troupe include Johannesburg, Pretoria, Soweto, Durban and Capetown.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance," said Antia Harris, a student at the Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts.

"It will help me learn more about the African part of my culture."

Harris and schoolmate Jewaun Littleton, along with Candice Fortman, Clarence Sailor Jr. and Stanley Coleman Jr. from Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Detroit, and Kimike Clark from the Michigan Health Academy in Southgate, all have been studying the country and absorbing as much as they can about the people, economy and culture.

"It will be great to actually be there and see it all first-hand," Harris added.

Kimike Clark, 16, said she is excited to experience another culture.

"We've been learning about the development going on in the country - they're building new houses and schools," she said. "They are really focusing on the children."

She said she believes the trip will be more eye-opening for her than for the native South Africans.

"It's very important because it will help me to know about my culture."

Grant Walker, director of corporate relations for Northwest Airlines, was on hand at the send-off celebration for the young performers.

Northwest Airlines is providing the domestic air travel for the group and Walker said the company was thrilled to lend its support to the endeavor.

"It's a great opportunity for the kids to go and see South Africa," he said. "With our commitment to Detroit and the size of our operations here, it was a natural thing to do."

The Detroit Theatre for the Dramatic Arts was founded in 1985 by husband-and-wife team Gregory and Cheryl Gray.

The South Africa Cultural Exchange Initiative is one of three youth initiatives sponsored by the theater.

The Grays are in the process of having a new theater constructed in downtown Detroit that will be home to all future productions.

"It's been very gratifying for us," Cheryl Gray said. "This started off as a vision on paper and very quickly became a reality."

"It's an artistic vision that is taking place halfway around the world and it started here in Detroit."

The teens will perform "Through a King's Eyes," a chronology of the life of Martin Luther King Jr.

The production is an original work by the theater and Gray & Gray Productions Inc.

"It's an interesting parallel between two men on either side of the ocean who were involved in similar struggles at different times," Gray said.

Gregory Gray said he is confident that the trip will inspire the budding actors.

"The kids will come back motivated and will want to lead other children," he said.

Next Story >>