Before going to this performance, I didn't know a lot about the plot of the play except that it was based off ancient west African history; but I later discovered that it covered the controversy of the life events of heretic Pharaoh, Akhenaten, husband of Queen Nefertiti and the father of Tutankhamun. I didn't research what the part of African history it covered before so I didn't recognize any of the names of the characters or know the complete story while watching. I understand that this was supposed to be a piece of entertainment, not a history lesson, but I strongly feel that we should have been encouraged to research the story behind the play prior to going to the performance. It was very hard for me to understand the plot line and the significance of certain characters because the script either didn't explain as clearly as I would have liked or I just couldn't understand what the actors were saying. If the script was more definable, I feel people would have been able to understand more clearly what was happening throughout the play. One part that really confused me was the transition from ancient to modern times that occurred in the first act. I didn't know whom the actor was representing and why he was dressed up in modern clothing (suit and tie), then reappears dressed in ancient Egyptian clothing. .
Other than the aspect of the plot being confusing, I thought the dancers and actors did a job well done. The only criticism I had was concerning the clarity of their lines, although I feel like the ancient Egyptian names and terms were the cause of the confusion. The dancers were very energetic and put a lot of enthusiasm into the dance while the actors were very dramatic and could do an excellent job at acting out the emotions of the characters for each scene. .
Another thing I enjoyed about the performance was the costume designs for each character. All the costumes did a great job of representing each characters personality and designating what level of authority each character had compared to the others.
