PEOPLE'S LIGHT AND THEATER COMPANY INVITES YOU TO MEET A YOUNG LADY FROM RWANDA

Theater: People's Light and Theater
Show Title: …A Young Lady From Rwanda
Opened: May 30, 2008
Seen: May 30, 2008
Reviewer: Arnie Finkel

The full name of the production, I Have Before Me A Remarkable Document Given to Me By A Young Lady From Rwanda, is almost as long as the play. In a concise 90 minutes, People’s Light & Theater Company makes you live the lives of two real people.

Juliette is a Rwandan survivor of the Genocide that enveloped her native land in 1994. She wants to write about her experiences but needs the help of Simon, a struggling poet, novelist and teacher to write in a more feeling way. Through helping her find the way to honestly tell her story, Simon regains his own literary voice. The powerful storytelling moves them both in different ways to a healing of their souls.

Playwright Sonja Linden has provided a script that draws you into their lives. She delays the horrific details until just the right moment. A little soft and meandering in the middle sections, but poetic and compelling as a whole, she provided a near perfect vehicle for two superb actors.

Miriam Hyman as Juliette is a wonder. She is tender, confused, vibrant, beautiful, wounded and very human. I felt that I knew her intimately. What a nuanced and deeply felt performance.

David Ingram’s Simon was every bit her equal. He was rumpled, unsure, empathetic, humorous and ultimately very proud of his student. He balanced Ms. Hyman in a very effective way.

A two person play can get very problematic if it is not handled deftly. Director David Bradley moved his actors in a sure and intelligent way. I began to wonder what else he could do with only two benches and very minimum props. He kept the production moving and the actors on just the right page.

Arthur R Rotch’s thrust set was a marvel of angles and provided many positions for each of the episodic scenes. I was impressed by the way niches in the floor served as repositories of the needed props. Dennis Parichy provided just the right lighting for the many scenes.

Two things need to be singled out for their invaluable part in making the play live. The Original music and soundscape designed by Micheal Keck was very much in tune (pun intended) with the spirit of this production. Kudos also goes to Dialect Coach Lynne Innderst. The English accent of Simon and the Rwandan of Juliette never went out of kilter. Their consistency was perfect.

This is a play that makes you think. Set in 1999, five years after the Rwandan genocide, you can’t help hearing echoes of the Holocaust and the situation in Darfur today.

For the sheer theater of it, I recommend …A Young Lady from Rwanda. It will be at the Steinbright Theater at People’s light until June 22.