Courtesy Adelle Gautier
Our final Supper Club of the Spring Series explores the connections between Senegalese and Creole cultures and cuisines with a menu by Chef Serigne Mbaye of Café Adelaide. In addition to tours of Laura Plantation by owner and operator Norman Marmillion, guests will hear from Adella Adella the Storyteller (Adelle Gautier), who will perform throughout dinner. An actress, storyteller, and educator, Gautier regales and delights with her animated renditions of Br’er Rabbit stories, songs, and other African, Caribbean and African-American lore, regularly touring statewide, nationally, and internationally to share her talents in spirit-lifting performances. A member of Screen Actors Guild since 1976, her talents have been featured in episodes of Law & Order, Queen Sugar, and Treme and the films When The Game Stands Tall, The Ballerina, and Now You See Me. At Laura Plantation, Gautier will share renditions of three West African tales that would have been familiar to the enslaved population of the property, including the heartbreaking “The Flying Africans,” a tale of longing for freedom and home that arose in part from memories of a real-life uprising by captive Igbo in Georgia. Gautier’s performance promises to pull these tales of the page and recount them as they were meant to be transmitted—via the gifts of a talented storyteller like those traditionally valued among the peoples of West Africa.
Be at Laura Plantation (2247 Highway 18, Vacherie, La.) for 6 pm to enjoy cocktail hour while dinner begins at 7 pm. Tickets available on bontempstix.com for $140.
This article originally appeared in our May 2018 issue. Subscribe to our print magazine today.
