THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

The Amazons (Werner calls them Amazones) are nice girls from Accra with names like Eunice, Beatrice, Patience, Primrose, Maud, and Rhoda.  At Elmina there were 700 of them, trained in machete drill by a lion faced Italian stunt director, Benito Stafanelli.  They behaved very badly.  They outraged the villagers by singing songs of fantastic obscenity.  They went on strike for more money and nearly staged a riot.

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The day is unbearably hot – about 113oF, 45oC – and the Amazons are wilting fast.  They have been called on to make a spectacular charge on the palace.  We sit in the portico and watch the rehearsal.  Suddenly the girls are hurtling towards us, spears waving, with Werner barefoot in the lead.  “Come on, girls” he shouts. “Faster, faster!”

Chatwin/Doing, 2005