Out of Africa, Onto the Stage
a young lady shares her stories of surviving rwandan genocide
The Theater Mania Web site lists 871 theatrical events that are open in the New York City area. To assist the overwhelmed tourist or seasoned theater-goer in choosing from their many options, there are 26 different categories listed, ranging from burlesque to musical to a clown show. Conspicuously absent, however, is a category for political theater.
The Phoenix Theatre Ensemble’s newest endeavor shows why politically charged plays are few and far between. The ensemble devoted over two years to the production of I Have Before Me A Remarkable Document Given to Me By A Young Lady From Rwanda, a play by Sonja Linden that opened last Saturday. The project proved to be logistically difficult and socially resistant. Yet last Saturday night, such resistance proved worth overcoming. The result was an inspiring night of multimedia art, a touching commentary on the human experience, and a reflection on the power of artistic expression.
I Have Before Me A Remarkable Document Given to Me by a Young Lady From Rwanda tells the stories of two seemingly disconnected characters: Simon, a struggling British poet in his mid-40s, and Juliette, a young survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Their lives intersect when Juliette employs Simon’s help in writing a book, and each are transformed by their unexpected friendship.
The script was inspired by Linden’s own work with clients of the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture. During her time with the Foundation, she was particularly struck by the stories of a young woman from Rwanda, whose desire to write about the horrors she experienced parallels that of Juliette’s. “When I came to write something of my own, as part of my residency, it was infused with her spirit and struggle to write,” Linden says in her program notes.
Elise Stone, founder and co-artistic director of the Pheonix Theatre Ensemble, read the script at a friend’s suggestion and immediately knew that it should be her next artistic endeavor. “My heart and my eyes have always been on the African continent,” says Stone, who has three adopted children from Ethiopia.
Stone was already a supporter of The Rwanda Project, which was founded by her late friend and theater collaborator, David Jiranek. The focal point of the project is a photography exhibit, “Through the Eyes of Children,” which consists of photographs taken by Rwandan orphans who survived the genocide. Finding many parallels between the exhibit and Linden’s play, Stone felt strongly about bringing both of them under one roof.
Regardless of its sociopolitical weight, realizing this vision was a great feat, especially in Manhattan. It was a challenge for the Phoenix Theatre Ensemble to find an available space with both a theater and gallery. Eventually St. Peter’s Church welcomed them, with its strong mission for arts in the city generating excitement for the project. The York Theatre Company, the church’s theater-in-residence, also became a partner. The Middle Collegiate Church, located on the Lower East Side, offered rehearsal space, becoming the third contributor. With all of the partnerships necessary to make the production financially feasible, there was great difficulty in coordinating all parties involved.
And while The Phoenix Theatre Ensemble was able to muster a wealth of support for its cause, there were certainly skeptics. One organization with which Stone was in contact told her that they couldn’t participate in a production with “Rwanda” in the title—they were convinced that people wouldn’t come. “People get nervous at that word. They want nothing to do with it,” Stone says. “I think that it is hard for people to look at Rwanda in particular because we have a collective guilt about it.”
Such an aversion hasn’t proved atypical—many prospective ticket-buyers share this sentiment. During the discussion held after the performance on opening night, a woman raised her hand and admitted, “I was kind of worried, because most political theater just doesn’t work.” But Juliette’s personal account shows people that the atrocities of the genocide are committed against people not unlike themselves.
“We cannot digest large statistics—it’s impossible,” Stone says. “I don’t think we are designed, either individually or collectively, to process the kind of scale of awfulness that is happening around us. People get immobilized by it.”
But the play manages at the same time to be both surprisingly light and endearing. There is much laughter as Juliette and Simon realize the cultural divides that exist between them. Linden recognizes humor as an important component of the script in order “to create a sense of balance and draw the audience in.” If the audience can laugh with the characters, then they are more susceptible to cry with them—to internalize and understand their emotional journeys.
Although both Linden and Stone aim to make the performance enjoyable and uplifting, they retain high expectations for the members of the audience. “We believe that stories have the ability to transform and save the world,” Stone says, speaking on behalf of the Phoenix Theatre Ensemble. “We choose plays that make people think and connect with the world in a different way.” This production takes it one step further—it asks people to take action. Just by buying a ticket, one is contributing to the cause because a third of the proceeds go to a humanitarian organization with a focus on Rwanda.
In addition to philanthropy, Stone wants to encourage discussions about Rwanda. She has invited various organizations to lead “talk-backs” after every performance, hoping to generate informal dialogue between cast and audience members. On opening night, Karen Schmidt from Columbia University’s Earth Institute was the featured guest.
The power of shared expression is an idea intrinsic in the script and in the photographs themselves. “They are both projects that use art as healing,” Stone says. In one of Juliette’s particularly poignant lines, she says, “I wrote this book to take the pain from my heart.”
It may be difficult to produce a play like I Have Before Me A Remarkable Document Given to Me By A Young Lady From Rwanda, but considering all the pain in people’s hearts around the world, it’s a wonder there aren’t more plays like this one. \\\