The Romas are thieves, they stink, they are nomads and like to travel, they live in tribes, they are lazy and do not like to work, but would only like to dance and sing – these are some of the clichés which a group of Roma teenagers are trying to break in the two-hour musical GRUBB (Gipsy Roma Balkan Beats) which was premiered to Belgrade audience on May 29th.
Combining hip-hop with the traditional Roma music, a group of young Romas, in cooperation with worldly renowned names from the fields of directing, lighting, choreography and music, created a unique musical in which they talk about their life, love, friendship and the constant battle of the Roma people.
“Worldly but ours”, would be the right description of this play which, right after Belgrade, will be shown to the London audience and at the Montreal Jazz Festival. With their energy they already won the audience in France.
The musical was born out of educational workshops which a British non-profitable organization “R.Point” organized for young Romas ages 14 to 20. Its director Caroline Roboh tells the Novi magazin that she came to the idea because it is necessary for their voice to be heard.
“They needed a voice that would be heard all over the world, which would speak about the problems they are facing. As for the renowned names that are working completely for free on this project, the first one to come aboard was director Serge Denoncourt, and then all the rest because they just fell in love with these children”.
Serge Denoncourt wrote the scenario and directed the play based on the life stories of the kids. In his biography he has over 100 directed plays, shows but also tours of pop stars like Eros Ramazzoti. In an exclusive interview with the Novi magazin he gives his reasons for getting involved with the project:
“When Caroline asked me to be a part of this project I declined at first because I had previous obligations for the next two and a half years – in London and Rome. Then she asked me to come to Belgrade for a week in order to participate in the workshops with the children, which I accepted. You cannot even imagine how touched I was when I met them. And not by their poverty but by their pride and so I decided to accept the offer. I told Caroline that I would do the show and I called my friends to get involved in the project. The video designer that usually does Tina Turner’s and Justin Timeberlake’s shows and the music producer Francis Collard are really big names and they, just like me, fell in love with these kids and accepted. Since then I have come to Belgrade every five weeks, and I have been here constantly for the last four”.
He states that the Roma children want to show the public a different picture about the Romas and that they were willing to work very hard on it. The key message that they want to send is:” We can work, you can trust us. We are not Romas, but human beings!” Denoncourt says that their music, which is a combination of hip-hop and traditional Roma music, mostly affects teenagers which are really delighted with their act and that that is the place from where the changes on how people see the Romas should start.
“They are talking to the world. After a show on a French television show that has 10 million viewers, everybody went crazy for them. Maybe they won’t change the world, but they will some parts of it, because it is impossible for people not to like them”.