Kilkilu Ana Comedy Show set out to achieve the seemingly impossible in South Sudan: getting people to laugh as civil war tore the newly-independent nation apart. | AFP
But comedy, and other performing arts, found fertile ground in the traumatized young country, even as space for free expression and dissent have shrunk elsewhere.
“I also use it as a medicine for myself,” said the 28-year-old, who is known on stage as Wokil Jeesh Commando.Crowds start arriving at Kilkilu Ana well before the first act, paying $1.40 for entry. Lumori, an event promoter better known as MC Lumoex, says they can sell 2,000 tickets on a good night. Just a few months earlier, the country had exploded into horrific bloodshed that pitted neighbor against neighbor and drove millions of people over the border.“So many people lost their loved ones,” 43-year-old Lumori told AFP.Growing scene
“South Sudanese, in general, are funny,” said Emmanuel Jal, the country’s most successful musician and well-known internationally.Comedy has taken off as room for free speech has constricted, said Nelson Kwaje, who founded a creative space in Juba in late 2020. In a skit this month, Atem joked about South Sudan’s schools being broke and teachers underpaid at a high-profile event where the country’s education minister was guest of honor.
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