“I rather immediately fell in love with the piece,” said director Warren Bowles. “Because I went through the experience of totally ignoring the issues in Rwanda. Not totally ignoring, you have some concept of what’s going on, but no real concept. And to see a piece that deals with the issues of what went on without being in any way voyeuristic about the scope of the genocide or wallowing in the genocide itself, is something that I found very fascinating.”
‘I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me by a Young Lady From Rwanda,’ now playing at the Park Square Theater, takes a penetrating look into a survivor’s guilt and how one women looks to resolve her feelings through the act of writing.
“We really try to get in touch with the events of the genocide and the overall scope of the genocide. And now we’re trying to figure out how we speak to one individual’s part in it. And by part in it, I mean both as the victim, which Juliet is, but also as the disinterested third party, which is what most of us were,” said Bowles. “Our ignoring the issues was not a lack of action: it was kind of a choice. You could say it was lead by our government, and Clinton, and Madeleine Albright. It’s always easy to find an excuse but still—we needed to do something. We needed to pay attention.
“I would hope that it [the play] would pique an interest not only in the situation in Rwanda but the whole idea of being able to have an effect on the world. Being aware changes that world because your awareness changes you and your actions. It’s the butterfly wings kind of thing. … I think what it will do is let the audience see that there are individuals that went through this and not only that, the effects of this horrific genocide in 1994 are not over yet and won’t be for a long time.”
The Park Square Theatre is generously offering $10 off the ticket price to “friends of NEED magazine.”
To get the discount, use the NEED code “document” when ordering.
The play runs April 24 – May 17, 2009.
Park Square Theatre: www.parksquaretheatre.org; phone 651.291.7005
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