0:00:02 > 0:00:06The journey of Gbubemi Amas has taken him from southern Nigeria
0:00:06 > 0:00:10to a very Welsh village about 20 kilometres northwest of Swansea
0:00:10 > 0:00:11which he now calls home.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15- I'm free range, because they go away over the fields.- Yes!
0:00:15 > 0:00:17Come on!
0:00:17 > 0:00:18They are great for their eggs.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22I could be coming to ask you for one or two, then.
0:00:22 > 0:00:23Yeah!
0:00:23 > 0:00:26- This really gets my deep, deep umbilical cord.- That's right.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29This takes me back to when I was young.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32Oh, it's so beautiful.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34Amas has embraced Welsh culture.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37Fresh cawl has become one of his all-time favourite dishes.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41It reminds him of goat soup from West Africa.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46- Champion!- He's torn between support for the Ospreys
0:00:46 > 0:00:47- and the Scarlets.- I'm scarlet!
0:00:47 > 0:00:50If you show some respect to your hosts
0:00:50 > 0:00:52and appreciation of who they are
0:00:52 > 0:00:56and you don't only come just to tell them what do you think they should be
0:00:56 > 0:00:58it becomes a lot easier.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02But 12 kilometres away from his new home
0:01:02 > 0:01:04in the coal-mining valleys of South Wales,
0:01:04 > 0:01:09a town elected its first BNP councillor in 2008.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13Different countries have their BNPs.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16We don't care where they're coming from,
0:01:16 > 0:01:19this country is full and it's time to shut the door!
0:01:19 > 0:01:21'The BNP is an extreme party.'
0:01:21 > 0:01:25They are believing in the fears they have
0:01:25 > 0:01:28and, sometimes, these fears might be real to them.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32Act one, scene one, from the top.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36Amas is an Nigerian musician and writer on a one-man mission
0:01:36 > 0:01:40to prove that encounters between Welsh and African culture
0:01:40 > 0:01:43can change people's lives for the better.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46I've never worked with an African director before.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58# Come together now... #
0:01:58 > 0:02:03'That's kind of been my life's work, working with younger people.'
0:02:03 > 0:02:06# It's a better world we're all living in... #
0:02:06 > 0:02:08When not producing a play,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10Amas might be painting,
0:02:10 > 0:02:12making sculpture, composing music
0:02:12 > 0:02:16or working as a consultant with community groups across Wales.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18AFRICAN DRUMMING
0:02:18 > 0:02:22Amas and his wife Oby moved to the UK from Nigeria in 2000.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27In 2003, they faced a new challenge -
0:02:27 > 0:02:30becoming the first African family
0:02:30 > 0:02:33to settle in the South Wales village of Cross Hands.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35DRUMMING CONTINUES
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Amas, a one-man publicity machine,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49is spreading the word about the approaching premiere of his play
0:02:49 > 0:02:52to Cross Hands' shopkeepers and neighbours.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54I don't get ill often, touch wood,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57but I guess they'll remember my face.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01Is Cross Hands - a village which got its name
0:03:01 > 0:03:04for being a prisoner transit point between Carmarthen and Swansea -
0:03:04 > 0:03:08ready for a challenging new vision of Welsh/African relations?
0:03:08 > 0:03:09- How are you?- Fine, thanks.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13I'd like to leave a poster for a play that I wrote.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16HE LAUGHS
0:03:16 > 0:03:18Now, let's see if the chemist...
0:03:18 > 0:03:20It looks open, should be open till six, I guess.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23- Yeah, we'll sort that out. - OK. You're looking well.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29I have never had any trouble in Cross Hands
0:03:29 > 0:03:32and it's quite a very peaceful neighbourhood
0:03:32 > 0:03:33and people are quite friendly.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35BUS TOOTS HORN
0:03:35 > 0:03:37Hey! How you?
0:03:37 > 0:03:39If you're stand-offish
0:03:39 > 0:03:42and you don't seem to blend in the community you get into,
0:03:42 > 0:03:44that's your fault, I would say.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46- Hello.- Hello.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48This is a very good restaurant.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51I stepped up from vindaloo...
0:03:51 > 0:03:52- To phaal.- To phaal.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54So I'm all spiced up now.
0:03:54 > 0:03:55A pint?
0:03:55 > 0:03:57These neighbours remember the day
0:03:57 > 0:04:01that Amas and Oby moved into the village.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03Remember the removal van coming, yes.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08Yeah, I think you must have been the first one to come.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11- African?- African, yes.
0:04:11 > 0:04:12They voted him in.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14LAUGHTER
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Because he brought money into the...
0:04:17 > 0:04:19I remember him coming here.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23- I remember you coming here, and your wife...- Oh, yes.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26..coming here, when Obama was voted in
0:04:26 > 0:04:29- as President of the USA. - Yes, that's true.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32I remember you coming in, and "It's a day to celebrate," you said.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35- That's right.- True?- Very, very true.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40Amas was commissioned to write and direct a play
0:04:40 > 0:04:43by the Mess Up The Mess Theatre Workshop.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47It's a Lottery-funded showcase for young acting talent in Wales.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53It's a love story with universal themes, modern-day problems
0:04:53 > 0:04:55and an Afro/Welsh twist.
0:04:55 > 0:05:00Plays and scripts are an excuse for you to explore.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04The casting call was for a play
0:05:04 > 0:05:07unlike anything these teenage actors had ever encountered.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10We have just one Belcher, we need a second Belcher.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14The young cast is expected to make at least a two-month commitment
0:05:14 > 0:05:19to a play that introduces a culture they know little or nothing about.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23OK, Katunges, can you stay close to Katunge?
0:05:23 > 0:05:25He told us that he came from Africa
0:05:25 > 0:05:27and he'd be directing our new show.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30I'd never worked with an African director before.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34Read the script!
0:05:34 > 0:05:36We didn't know Amas at all, so when he came in,
0:05:36 > 0:05:40he was like, "Amas," and we were like, "All right, mate!"
0:05:40 > 0:05:45We always are sarcastic when someone we don't know walks in, so you know.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48I have missed you so much. How was school today?
0:05:48 > 0:05:50The heart of the story
0:05:50 > 0:05:53is an intercultural, interracial romance.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55Katunge, an African boy,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58and Gwendolyn, a Welsh girl, fall in love.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02I'm sorry, I got upset. You know I love you.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05The story does not unfold in predominantly white Wales
0:06:05 > 0:06:08or in predominantly black Africa
0:06:08 > 0:06:11but in a fictional country called Walganda
0:06:11 > 0:06:15where racial divisions no longer confine friendships.
0:06:15 > 0:06:20The issues of intercultural marriages now
0:06:20 > 0:06:22is no more a big deal.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26This is my fertility maiden.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28That's what it's called.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Mixed-race children
0:06:30 > 0:06:33are the largest-growing racial group in the UK today.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37But mixed-race couples didn't always have it so easy,
0:06:37 > 0:06:40as Amas' wife Oby can testify.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43I grew up in Nigeria. I was born in Nigeria
0:06:43 > 0:06:48to a Nigerian father and a white British mother.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50My parents met in the '50s
0:06:50 > 0:06:53when my father came to the United Kingdom to study.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58'He was an engineering student
0:06:58 > 0:07:01'and he met my mother, she was studying chemistry.'
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Racism was rife at the time they met.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08So there was this young black boy going out with a young white woman
0:07:08 > 0:07:12and it wasn't very easy for them.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14After their wedding, my father took my mother back to Nigeria
0:07:14 > 0:07:17and that's where I was born.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22Amas the art student and Oby the law student
0:07:22 > 0:07:24met at university in Nigeria.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27They eventually married, had a couple of kids
0:07:27 > 0:07:32and in 2000 decided to try life in the UK.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35This time, we felt, "OK, we need to have a change of scene
0:07:35 > 0:07:38"and give the children a choice as well."
0:07:38 > 0:07:41The children decided to attend university in Swansea.
0:07:42 > 0:07:47Swansea has long been a magnet for Nigerian and international students.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Oby's brother is a law professor at Swansea University.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52MUSIC, SINGING
0:07:52 > 0:07:56Swansea has one of the larger Nigerian communities outside London.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01Swansea being a university town, that really helped.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05I would probably say about 60% are from Nigeria
0:08:05 > 0:08:07who are part of our congregation.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09From multi-national Swansea,
0:08:09 > 0:08:13Amas and Oby moved to Cross Hands.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16A backlash to immigration resounded loudly
0:08:16 > 0:08:18during the last general election.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21Whether it's Islamic immigration, coloured of any sort,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24whether it's the Poles who've flooded this country,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27this country is full and it's time to shut the door!
0:08:27 > 0:08:28CHEERING
0:08:28 > 0:08:31Back in 2008, the town of Llandybie,
0:08:31 > 0:08:33about 12 miles west of Cross Hands,
0:08:33 > 0:08:37elected its first BNP councillor.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40Different countries have their BNPs
0:08:40 > 0:08:44and they say, "Oh, these guys are coming to take our jobs,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46"oh, corner shops all over the place..."
0:08:48 > 0:08:52I used to own a jazz club in Swansea
0:08:52 > 0:08:56and I remember once, a guy came to the club, we served him a beer
0:08:56 > 0:08:59and he came over to me and showed me his arm
0:08:59 > 0:09:02and peeled it up and the sign "BNP" was there.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05He said, "Do you know what that means?" I say, "Yeah."
0:09:05 > 0:09:09"So, you know what that means?" I say, "Yeah!"
0:09:09 > 0:09:12I say, "Yeah, but you're welcome here."
0:09:12 > 0:09:14He kept coming back!
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Last year, there were over 1,900 racist incidents
0:09:19 > 0:09:21reported in South Wales.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25I reckon that if I had gone, "Oh, you're not allowed in here!
0:09:25 > 0:09:27"Get out! Blah blah blah,"
0:09:27 > 0:09:31then he would get satisfaction from, "Oh, I've shaken one guy.
0:09:31 > 0:09:32"Who's next?"
0:09:32 > 0:09:38My wife Oby, all she might have faced is institutional racism,
0:09:38 > 0:09:42where it is not a single person coming to you in your face,
0:09:42 > 0:09:46it's a case of, you are a lawyer, you are very qualified
0:09:46 > 0:09:48and you can't get a job.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52All you can get is a cleaning job, if you're lucky.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54I came full of enthusiasm,
0:09:54 > 0:09:57thinking, "Oh, I can easily get a job, I've got qualifications."
0:09:57 > 0:10:00It does something to your confidence
0:10:00 > 0:10:03to come in thinking you're qualified to do a job
0:10:03 > 0:10:07and then finding that no-one really thinks you are!
0:10:09 > 0:10:15Oby was a magistrate in Nigeria with the potential of becoming a judge
0:10:15 > 0:10:19but in Britain she was considered unqualified to practise law.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21She has since passed the UK bar exam
0:10:21 > 0:10:25and now works as a planning manager for the NHS.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32In between play rehearsals, Amas and Oby occasionally team up
0:10:32 > 0:10:36to bring the sounds and tastes of Africa to the Welsh Valleys.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40This bridge-building soiree
0:10:40 > 0:10:43is part of a Welsh Assembly scheme called Communities First.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46It's the first of its kind at the Newbridge Rugby Club,
0:10:46 > 0:10:49about 60 kilometres east of Cross Hands.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56Different cultures are coming into the valleys.
0:10:56 > 0:10:57People are not used to it
0:10:57 > 0:11:02and it can affect more of the older generation, with change, really.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06When trouble starts, they associate it with that.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09They just want to keep their valleys Welsh.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12My grandson says to me, "You're European,"
0:11:12 > 0:11:15and I say, "No, I'm not, I'm Welsh!"
0:11:15 > 0:11:17We've got our own culture.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19But I feel now, as an older person,
0:11:19 > 0:11:21that they're taking all that away from us,
0:11:21 > 0:11:23our chapels, our everything.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27Because we're having an influx of different nationalities,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30all our customs are going away.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34APPLAUSE
0:11:34 > 0:11:35Thank you!
0:11:35 > 0:11:37Amas and Oby see their mission
0:11:37 > 0:11:40to enrich, not endanger, another culture.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47OK, let's take it again and let's have more volume.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51I missed you very much. How was school today?
0:11:51 > 0:11:52I have a lead part,
0:11:52 > 0:11:54a shepherd named Katunge,
0:11:54 > 0:11:56meaning "rich" or something like that.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58'What made it doubly interesting was
0:11:58 > 0:12:01'Katunge was being played by a Welsh boy.'
0:12:01 > 0:12:07The very name "Katunge", that's a totally different tongue formation!
0:12:07 > 0:12:12An experience with a different spice could virtually change your day!
0:12:12 > 0:12:15- How was school today?- It was fine.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19'It's an injection which now begins to grow inside them.'
0:12:19 > 0:12:20So you're now a vet!
0:12:20 > 0:12:22You don't need to go to school to learn about animals!
0:12:22 > 0:12:24It makes the world smaller.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27With MY experience as a shepherd, I can show you how.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31With my EXPERIENCE as a SHEPHERD,
0:12:31 > 0:12:33I can show you HOW!
0:12:33 > 0:12:36'Katunge in the play is a cattle-rearer boy
0:12:36 > 0:12:38'whose father is very rich.'
0:12:38 > 0:12:40Take it again. Project, project.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44'Now Gwendolyn is a lovely Welsh girl
0:12:44 > 0:12:46'who was more prone to going to school'
0:12:46 > 0:12:50and Katunge felt it was a better life
0:12:50 > 0:12:55to be in the fields and tend the cows and get engaged with nature
0:12:55 > 0:12:58and that was where the problem started.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00'It was a bit of a mixture of
0:13:00 > 0:13:03'things that happen in Wales and happen in Uganda,
0:13:03 > 0:13:06'and it was just going through their life a bit, really.
0:13:06 > 0:13:07What are you sorry about?
0:13:07 > 0:13:09- I dropped it.- Yeah, but you're not.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12She missed Katunge a lot when she wasn't with them,
0:13:12 > 0:13:14and he missed her a lot,
0:13:14 > 0:13:18but they thought they were taking it too fast.
0:13:18 > 0:13:19GIRL WAILS
0:13:19 > 0:13:23The love story unfolds against a backdrop of deep poverty
0:13:23 > 0:13:26and a local industry causing massive pollution.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28He's not going to die.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30Not exactly light entertainment
0:13:30 > 0:13:33but themes that echo personal experiences of Amas
0:13:33 > 0:13:36as well as harsh realities in Wales today.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Are you coming with me or what? My mates will be here in one minute.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44'It was about two young people'
0:13:44 > 0:13:46who had lots of problems in their lives
0:13:46 > 0:13:48and I was one of their problems.
0:13:48 > 0:13:49'I don't like pollution
0:13:49 > 0:13:53'so when I come on stage for the first time, I'm yelling...'
0:13:53 > 0:13:56I'm tired of this shit pollution and all these crops dying
0:13:56 > 0:13:59and no food, and no money, and all these kids following me around.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02"Blah blah blah," all that. It gets on my nerves!
0:14:02 > 0:14:05I don't like pollution in my world.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09Well, there's a group of people called Yobs
0:14:09 > 0:14:13and they decide to protest towards Mr Belcher.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15Ladies and gentlemen!
0:14:15 > 0:14:18The plants bring jobs, the incinerator even more jobs.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21The investors need to see profit.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24The chairman deserves a big bonus.
0:14:24 > 0:14:25- CHILDREN:- No, no, no!
0:14:25 > 0:14:29Belcher! Shut your stinking mouth and sit down!
0:14:29 > 0:14:31They protest so much that
0:14:31 > 0:14:34he decides to reduce the carbon emissions at the plant.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38Amas witnessed first-hand
0:14:38 > 0:14:41how pollution can destroy lives and communities.
0:14:41 > 0:14:42Where I come from,
0:14:42 > 0:14:46in the Delta region in Nigeria,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49there's loads of waters and fishing,
0:14:49 > 0:14:54it's quite easy to access food, like crayfish...
0:14:55 > 0:15:01until the oil companies came, though, and all the water got polluted.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10My village, Dali, in Warri,
0:15:10 > 0:15:14had fish coming up belly-up.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18I had a first-hand observation and experience
0:15:18 > 0:15:25of how pollution could really affect the environment
0:15:25 > 0:15:27and therefore the people, their feeding patterns,
0:15:27 > 0:15:31their economy, their lives, the whole thing, the fabric.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35So in the play, it was quite easy for me to tap into that root.
0:15:35 > 0:15:40And also coal mining, that for me is quite tricky.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42This day, I'm still trying to look into
0:15:42 > 0:15:46whether coal-mining is really wrong or right.
0:15:46 > 0:15:47Amas' new home in Cross Hands
0:15:47 > 0:15:52is also a community that has lost its traditional means of livelihood.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57It's a history as close as his own backyard,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00a history that was lived by his neighbour, Glyn Daniel.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03For how long did you work in the mines?
0:16:03 > 0:16:06- 36 years, underground.- 36 years.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08Mostly on the coalface.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13The New Cross Hands Colliery boasted the best coal in the world.
0:16:13 > 0:16:18Most of the boys, men, that I worked with,
0:16:18 > 0:16:19most of them have passed away now.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23There was a pit shaft just by there.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26The engine house was down here.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32This was where they had the steam to drive the carriages down.
0:16:32 > 0:16:37Miles of forgotten tunnels remain underground.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40You can say it's about, altogether, three miles...
0:16:40 > 0:16:42AMAS GASPS
0:16:42 > 0:16:43- ..underground.- Underground?
0:16:45 > 0:16:48Amas is not the first African to embrace Welsh culture.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51- They've got a black man to work down the pit.- Well?
0:16:53 > 0:16:54What about it?
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Why, damn and blast it, man, aren't we all black down that pit?
0:16:59 > 0:17:03In the 1940s, Paul Robeson, an African-American singer and actor,
0:17:03 > 0:17:07embraced the culture, broke racial barriers,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10and took a controversial stand in support of Welsh miners.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13He was American. He came over
0:17:13 > 0:17:16and joined force with the lesser privileged people,
0:17:16 > 0:17:18got into some trouble.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22I know he sang some (DEEP VOICE) "big voice sounds!"
0:17:22 > 0:17:27# All through the night... #
0:17:27 > 0:17:31'The university I went to, the University of Nigeria out in Nsukka,'
0:17:31 > 0:17:36had its drama building named Paul Robeson.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41It's time for the first dress rehearsal.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47'The costuming I did for them
0:17:47 > 0:17:50'is the same I would do for Broadway.'
0:17:50 > 0:17:52I like the hat.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55I like your bangles. That's from Primark?
0:17:55 > 0:17:57HE LAUGHS
0:17:57 > 0:18:01If I give anyone a costume, it could be a pair of glasses,
0:18:01 > 0:18:03a piece of cloth,
0:18:03 > 0:18:05whatever I give to you, as a costume,
0:18:05 > 0:18:09you own your costume straight away. We keep them in the corner somewhere.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12I give them my best walking sticks, my best hats,
0:18:12 > 0:18:16my original masks, some about 100 years old.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18I give them the very best
0:18:18 > 0:18:22because I was anxious for them to have a true taste, not a semblance.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30Hands up, please.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32'It was a good experience to do something
0:18:32 > 0:18:35'to do with a different culture toward our own.'
0:18:35 > 0:18:39We learned about their costumes and their clothes and things
0:18:39 > 0:18:41and their instruments and how they live.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45They had dresses on and things, so they looked proper Africany, yeah.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50Who amongst you has a traditional Welsh outfit
0:18:50 > 0:18:53with a bonnet, with a proper...?
0:18:53 > 0:18:55- I've got one.- Mine's like this big.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57He was a bit frustrated,
0:18:57 > 0:19:02I think he thought it was a bit too much to do with Africa,
0:19:02 > 0:19:05and there wasn't quite enough Welsh culture in there
0:19:05 > 0:19:07but we got there in the end.
0:19:07 > 0:19:08I think he was a bit annoyed
0:19:08 > 0:19:12with some of the people who know Welsh but didn't use Welsh.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14This is Wales, and we need to demonstrate
0:19:14 > 0:19:16that this play is also in Wales.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18He's got a rugby top, yeah?
0:19:18 > 0:19:21OK, rugby top, but who has got a traditional...with a bonnet?
0:19:21 > 0:19:24I've just got the bonnet, I've just got the hat.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27The hat, who can borrow, please?
0:19:27 > 0:19:30We added a couple of pieces of Welsh things in,
0:19:30 > 0:19:32so you could tell it was Wales.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35Some of the drum players wore Welsh costumes,
0:19:35 > 0:19:37Welsh rugby T-shirts and stuff.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40Act one, scene one, from the top.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43The play is starting.
0:19:43 > 0:19:50'In my work, what I've noticed is that there is social poverty,'
0:19:50 > 0:19:54the lack of social mobility, lack of influence of family...
0:19:58 > 0:20:01'..younger ones believing they know it all,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04'a lack of formed community - which Africa has,
0:20:04 > 0:20:07'which Nigeria has in quantum!'
0:20:07 > 0:20:09Fly to the house!
0:20:12 > 0:20:15# When the rain is blowing in your face
0:20:17 > 0:20:21# And the whole world is on your case... #
0:20:21 > 0:20:25'The main part that I did was the solo singer.'
0:20:25 > 0:20:30It was a song I sang for Gwendolyn because she was missing Katunge.
0:20:30 > 0:20:35# I could hold you for a million years
0:20:36 > 0:20:41# ALL: To make you feel my love. #
0:20:41 > 0:20:42No money!
0:20:42 > 0:20:43Bam!
0:20:43 > 0:20:44No jobs!
0:20:44 > 0:20:46- Bam!- No crops!
0:20:46 > 0:20:47Bam!
0:20:47 > 0:20:50- It tipped over.- Sorry.
0:20:50 > 0:20:51Not your fault, not your fault.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53Oh, my God, are you OK?
0:20:56 > 0:21:00- OK, so finally some excitement I see! - That was awkward.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02I'd like to thank you guys for today.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05I think you were just marvellous.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08Can we have a round of applause for all of you?
0:21:14 > 0:21:19The Amas one-man publicity machine also hit the local airwaves.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21Keep it locked on Radio Cardiff at 98.7 FM,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23so if you're listening, we want to talk
0:21:23 > 0:21:25because it sounds like it's...
0:21:25 > 0:21:27A - a good thing to travel around Wales,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30as we were saying, there's a lot of poverty-stricken areas,
0:21:30 > 0:21:35and if we can take it around Wales and then across to Nigeria, Uganda,
0:21:35 > 0:21:37- what a great way to pass on a message.- Yep.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48Oh, no!
0:21:54 > 0:21:58We have one hour, seven minutes to rehearsals,
0:21:58 > 0:22:00so this heart is not going to happen today.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05I can't even have access tomorrow. Today is Thursday
0:22:05 > 0:22:07and the play is Saturday.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13But no matter what happens, the play is going to go on.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17CHILDREN ALL SPEAK AT ONCE
0:22:17 > 0:22:19I see the light!
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Boogeymen, go!
0:22:21 > 0:22:23No, no, no!
0:22:23 > 0:22:27- Stronger!- Belcher! - Again, no, no, no, please!
0:22:27 > 0:22:30I'm a chief! I should banish you to the cornfields
0:22:30 > 0:22:32for saying such things!
0:22:32 > 0:22:35Take it from the top. It's too soft
0:22:35 > 0:22:38and too... No passion.
0:22:38 > 0:22:43'Much like the Katunge-Gwendolyn parts in the play,'
0:22:43 > 0:22:47the romance of Nigeria
0:22:47 > 0:22:50and...especially Swansea,
0:22:50 > 0:22:52it's been growing nicely.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Is the play really about Katunge and Gwendolyn
0:22:55 > 0:22:59or is it about the encounter between Nigeria and Swansea?
0:23:02 > 0:23:06We have quite a number of students who pay quite some hefty fees
0:23:06 > 0:23:08and they keep the place going, they're having a good time.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12I just finished my Master's degree in finance.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15- International relations.- Aerospace.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19In spite of Swansea's large Nigerian community,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Amas was incredulous to discover
0:23:22 > 0:23:25that an authentic Nigerian restaurant had opened there.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28My friend mentioned to me,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32"There's a Nigerian restaurant in Swansea. I said, "What?"
0:23:32 > 0:23:35He said, "Yes, there's a Nigerian restaurant!"
0:23:35 > 0:23:37I said, "African?" He said, "No, Nigerian."
0:23:37 > 0:23:39I say, "You must be kidding me!"
0:23:41 > 0:23:45I'm making beans and plantain porridge.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47Sometimes we call it bachelor's food
0:23:47 > 0:23:49because it's the easiest thing
0:23:49 > 0:23:53for the bachelor man who doesn't have a wife to prepare.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57It brings them the memory of home.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02One thing led to the other, and it blossomed
0:24:02 > 0:24:06into such love that, at the end of the play,
0:24:06 > 0:24:07they eventually got married.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12Mum, Dad, we have an important announcement to make.
0:24:13 > 0:24:14- WHISPERS:- Please, everyone...
0:24:14 > 0:24:18Please, everybody listen. We're getting married.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21CHEERING
0:24:21 > 0:24:23This calls for a celebration!
0:24:23 > 0:24:26In a case of life imitating art,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29an African wedding came to Wales
0:24:29 > 0:24:33when Amas and Oby's daughter Omawumi got married in Cross Hands.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39It was a big surprise.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41We just saw a couple of people going up the road
0:24:41 > 0:24:43and we thought, "What's going on?"
0:24:43 > 0:24:45So we didn't have a clue.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50They had lovely head-dresses,
0:24:50 > 0:24:56long, very, very colourful, very beautiful gowns on
0:24:56 > 0:25:00and the gentlemen were also in national costumes.
0:25:00 > 0:25:05We had a dozen people staying here from Nigeria
0:25:05 > 0:25:09in their traditional African dresswear, very colourful.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11The children were very pretty.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14Haven't seen anything like that in Cross Hands.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17I'm not sure if the older gentlemen in the bar may have seen something
0:25:17 > 0:25:19but it was a first for me.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24It was absolutely fantastic
0:25:24 > 0:25:25and very nice people.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28They were all saying hello as they were walking past.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35I'd say, the first African wedding in Cross Hands itself.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40It was lovely African music.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42It was nothing like...
0:25:42 > 0:25:45like the music you've got of youngsters today!
0:25:54 > 0:25:58I want to give the impression that the sunlight is very strong,
0:25:58 > 0:26:01so it would be nice to see some shadows,
0:26:01 > 0:26:05which normally every director wants to avoid, but I love shadows
0:26:05 > 0:26:07because it's true to life, isn't it?
0:26:07 > 0:26:11In Africa you see your shadows, they go with you everywhere.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13You can hardly get away from them.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16- That's all right, then. Yeah? - You look great,
0:26:16 > 0:26:19- sincerely.- You sounded like you were a bit sarcastic there.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22No, there's no sarcasm. If anything, it's envy.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24I am very, very jealous,
0:26:24 > 0:26:26so don't push your luck!
0:26:27 > 0:26:30Everyone looks really cool in their costumes.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32We haven't seen them fully costumed and stuff yet
0:26:32 > 0:26:34so it's really, really cool.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39The play is about to have its Welsh premiere.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43I'm really nervous about tonight. Hoping everything will go well.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47- I'm slightly nervous about it. - I forgot my lucky bracelet.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49# Don't worry
0:26:49 > 0:26:52# About a thing... #
0:26:52 > 0:26:56Everyone is excited, and that's so really pleasing
0:26:56 > 0:26:58to see that they are happy.
0:27:02 > 0:27:03I'm jumpy!
0:27:04 > 0:27:07MUSIC: "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley
0:27:11 > 0:27:16Hey, love birds, what's going on in here? Get a room!
0:27:16 > 0:27:17Get away!
0:27:17 > 0:27:19No jobs, no money!
0:27:19 > 0:27:22# Three little birds... #
0:27:24 > 0:27:27Mum, Dad, we have an important announcement to make.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Please, everybody listen. We're getting married.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32EVERYONE GASPS
0:27:32 > 0:27:34ALL: You're getting married?
0:27:34 > 0:27:36CHEERING
0:27:36 > 0:27:40My parents and my family decided they thought it was really good
0:27:40 > 0:27:42and they were influenced by it
0:27:42 > 0:27:45and they thought it was very mature
0:27:45 > 0:27:48for a group of our age to be doing something like that.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54The ripple effects of this bridge-building enterprise
0:27:54 > 0:27:56are spreading outwards.
0:27:56 > 0:27:57I'd love to go to Africa
0:27:57 > 0:28:02because I hear it's nice warm weather, like, very warm out there.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05There's lots of new people to meet out there
0:28:05 > 0:28:08and you can teach them things like...Welsh!
0:28:08 > 0:28:12# Don't worry about a thing... #
0:28:12 > 0:28:15Makes me feel like this whole drama thing is like a family...
0:28:15 > 0:28:17Makes me feel like all of us are a family together.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24If you don't have your own roots, the tree is going to die.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30It's OK for them to go to California, Rio de Janeiro,
0:28:30 > 0:28:34but please, pack a bag of Welsh!
0:28:34 > 0:28:37APPLAUSE
0:28:49 > 0:28:51Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd