NYTimes.com: THE thought of Kambale Syaghuswa performing on a Manhattan stage is all but unimaginable. Just a few years ago he fled the Democratic Republic of Congo, having escaped a training camp for child soldiers on farmland that had once belonged to his father. And just one month ago he was a truck driver in Syracuse, N.Y., where he was part of that city’s robust Congolese population.
3 comments:
This is an instance where a performance does not rely on theatricality to reach out to an audience, but rather the raw, brutal power of truth and sincerity. Unconventional shows like these bring up so many questions about the nature of theater and what constitutes art; when is reality staged enough to impact us yet become a performance? This project in particular seems incredible, touching on such a painful and sensible topic, and I would love to see such an unconventional piece of theater play out.
This absolutely is an unconventional show. I would agrue that it is so unconventional, it no longer resembles theatre. This brings up the question of what qualifies something as a piece of theatre. This seems to me to more closely resemble a lecture series where the speaker simply ells of their life. Dont those usually contain a chair, a podium, and projections? I generally consider theatre as involving costumes, sets, lighting, sound and media in a way that is beneficial to the retelling of a story. In this case, those aspects are so minimal, they appear to not even exis at all.
I am so happy that these are being performed, especially the Congolese piece. The stories in "Cry for Piece" are about sexual enslavement, child abuse, and other atrocities, which are directly relevant to the Congo today. Today, there is a horrific genocide going on, involving atrocious rapings as well as child soldiers. I find this perfomance to be very important to the current issues, especially when the leading, anti-rape doctor was almost assassinated last Thursday. Perhaps, if people hear their stories, the audience might research more about the Congo and understand the severity of the situation. I am very glad this production is showing what people do not want to see, because it is those shows that people are more likely to remember. I would rather show someone an image that they would not want to see than to show them an image that is safe and well-known. It is time for the world to open its eyes.
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