A complete file of notes on Elmina's Kitchen by Kwame Kwei-Aramah filled with facts about the setting of the play, the context of production, context of theatre, the playwright himself and other important information. This also includes relevant statistical information such as educational rates wit...
Elmina’s kitchen -
Production/Context
class lang and lit
created @September 13, 2023 6:47 PM
tags
Key Notes:
2004 Elmina’s kitchen BBC I player production - Ashley’s mother mentioned
as alive, shows her as absent
Elmina castle is within Ghana which is also the place where Kwei Armah
went to trace his own heritage
He was born Ian Roberts but changed his name to connect with his heritage
and reject the surname of his forebears slave owner (underlying within the
play)
Griot - traditional storyteller from Africa - introduces the traditional sense of
the story
The gurkel reappears at pivotal moments, usually at the end of the
major scenes, however it appears after Dougie’s funeral (perhaps as
griots also were associated times of death and mourning?)
You hear the gurkel at quite a few points in the play - shows that
traditional suffering is never far behind - links to the setting being
named after a slave castle?
So the gurkel is played 4 times in total in the play, once at the
beginning, twice when associated with Dougie’s death, and intensely
before the final scene, it seems to be associated with death and (with
its description used to draw out spirits) seems to be linked to the
violence in the play
Kwami Kwei Armah described how he felt inspired by the play as he saw
the bodies of two teenagers in a bmw who had been in a car crash (they
had been involved in dealing) which inspired the character of Ashley
Elmina’s kitchen - Production/Context 1
, When Kwei Armah was working on casualty, the jamaican restaurant he
frequented was swarmed by police due to drug links - inspired the setting
of Elmina’s kitchen
The Celestine Prophecy describes a spiritual journey undergone by a
character, within this novel there are insights revealed to help readers
achieve true peace. One of which is to understand and let go of the past,
which Anastasia may be currently attempting to do
These insights provide a guidance to readers, as many Christians
would view the bible as being a guide to life - hence the stage
direction ‘clutches like a bible’’
In the early 2000s there was a huge problem regarding the youth getting
involved in gang crime - in 2004 a report by the Home Office found that
up to 6% of young people aged 10–19 belonged to a gang in England and
Wales
The 2001 Census found that 26% of Black Caribbean households only
had one parent
In the early 2000s, black Caribbean students were the lowest achieving
ethnic group
Only 30% passed 5 or more Gcses (2002) - shows a very poor attitude
towards education that could be effected by external factors .e.g. gang
culture
Some may intepretate this as stereotypical, however this is the normal black
experience (as shown by KKA’s own experiences)
Elmina (dervied from Wilhemia) means ‘determined protector’
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