Matthews, who boasts a heavenly tenor and a degree in drama from Carnegie Mellon University, is no stranger to performance. He has performed off-Broadway and at regional theaters and has also directed musicals. He and his partner, the composer Matt Gould, spent two weeks last fall touring area schools to introduce students to their new musical, “Witness Uganda,” which begins performances Tuesday and runs through March 16 at the American Repertory Theater. But this particular presentation is critical. The musical tells the story of their efforts to put 10 Ugandan orphans through school. “This is the most important audience of all,’’ Matthews says. “We want Ugandans to come see the play.”
2 comments:
Diane Paulus is at it again. This time, it's a play that actually means something to the people. THIS is what theater does best: spreading a message, informing the public, getting new ideas out there. I've lived in Massachusetts for most of my life, and I never knew that Waltham had a huge population of Ugandans. This piece is going to change the world. The American Rep has covered this show extensively on their Instagram account and they even had a giant Skype session between the creative team and local Ugandans. Now that is some dramaturgical research.
I really really really want to see this show. What is going on in Uganda is a subject that really interests me since I started doing projects in the theater of the oppressed genre. This is a great way to get a message out to the world about the terrible things are are going on. I hoping that for that reason it is a hit. I would also be interested to see what would happen is they took the show to Uganda,and performed it in some of the villages. This would be very Augusto Boal like and could have some potential to highlight some new issues.
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