African politics take to the stage this weekend with the world premiere of Sigui Suiguila Siguiya at the Gonda Theatre. In a unique collaborative performance that could only happen at an internationally focused place like Georgetown, students and professors joined West African musicians from D.C. to put on a play written by French Professor Amadou Kone and directed by French Professor Roger Bensky.

Loosely based on the political issues surrounding the civil war in Kone’s native Cote d’Ivoire, Sigui tells the story of a succession crisis in the fictional West African nation of Tchiranele. Following the death of the country’s long-time political leader, the nation finds itself in limbo. Six months go by and a new leader has not yet been inaugurated. The country’s colorful dancers, at first dancing to mark the death of the leader, are dancing without meaning. The nation’s Council of Elders finds itself at a loss, mired in uncertainty as it mulls the impending transition of power.

What follows is a lively and intriguing — though confusing and clouded at times —interchange of ideas and political philosophies, as the various players in Tchiranele ponder issues of tradition, modernization, unity and the imperialist legacy as they hash out the nation’s future.

The dauphin, played by Paul Doulatshahi (MSB ’08), is the nephew of the former leader and a successful Paris lawyer who comes to the country after being selected to succeed his uncle by the Council of Elders. The play is complete with the Blind Seer, portrayed by local resident Kale Koene, the play’s wise man and tribal elder of sorts, who articulates the reason behind the succession crisis: the absence of siguila.

Siguila, a word coming from a native Ivoirian language and the namesake of the play, comes to mean the authority by which a ruler can rule, drawing on respect for tradition.

According to the Blind Seer, harmony cannot be restored in the country until it is found, although the vagueness of this term’s meaning significantly complicates our understanding of the plot. Several scenes that would have clarified the siguila issue were absent from the performance, although they are explained in detail in the show’s program.

Sigui is an intriguing play that leaves the audience both entertained and still thinking as they leave the theatre; the issues it raises about the dilemmas of political life in former colonies relate directly to today’s headlines. In one especially interesting scene, the Dauphin is discussing the country with the ambassador, played by French professor Guy Spielmann, a representative of the country’s former colonial rulers who still tries to assert imperialist influence. “You are going to impose a democratic leader on the people in the name of democracy,†the dauphin says, a point pregnant with meaning far beyond the fictional nation.

The play’s heavy use of metaphor, while leading to slight confusion at times, also adds to the African character of the play, as does the very lively music and dance that works well to break up the more philosophical dialogues. The play was performed in French, with English subtitles, and all of the students and actors in the play — many of whom are not native French speakers — did a remarkable job.

Although the audience leaves the theater not quite knowing what siguila is, the play makes the audience see issues of development, politics and culture from a West African perspective. It forces us to think, and also to dance.