By Ed Lowe
Senior Writer
Genocide is a dirty word. When we hear it, we tend to turn away and convert the idea into something abstract. Whether it occurred at Auschwitz or Buchenwald, in Bosnia, Iraq or Rwanda, genocide is viewed impersonally as an instance of man's inhumanity to man. Victory Gardens is presenting "I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given To Me by a Young Lady From Rwanda" which, more than anything else in my experience, personalized the horror of ethnic cleansing and genocide.
The play, presented without intermission, describes the budding relationship between a Rwandan refugee, Juliette (played impeccably by Yetide Badaki), and Simon (played with great sensitivity by Lance Baker) as he tries to tutor her in writing in a refugee center in London. Simon is a married poet, experiencing a five year dry spell, who works to help Rwandan refugees from the 1994 genocide between Tutsi and Hutu peoples described from another dimension in the recent award winning movie "Hotel Rwanda." Juliette is the refugee who lives in a small room in a hostel and has no money or means of survival except the meager charity she receives from the refugee organization.
Simon encourages her to work on her book and also on her language skills. As the play progresses, they develop a close relationship on a professional level. This relationship helps both to move their lives forward. Simon urges her to tell her story; she resists and continues to be withdrawn from her new surroundings. As the plot evolves, she gradually accepts the freedom of English society. In one of the best written scenes in modern drama, she describes the horrors she has encountered and through that exposition explains her reticence. She finally experiences some closure, comes to grips with her experiences, and tries to reenter the world and complete her book.
Sonja Linden has written a sensitive, moving play which has been brought to life by the direction of Andrea J. Dymond, Victory Garden's resident director. The set is simple, moving from Juliette's tiny room to Simon's equally small office to the imaginary park where Simon tries to teach Juliette how to describe her surroundings with adjectives rather than nouns. The lighting, designed by Jaymi Lee Smith, allows the action to flow seamlessly from place to place.
"A Young Lady From Rwanda" will continue at Victory Gardens through March 5. Tickets are scaled between $35 and $40 and are available through the box office by calling (773) 871-3000. Victory Gardens is located at 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. Discounted parking is available at the Children's Memorial lot with a ticket stub. |
