…a Young Lady From Rwanda
Director by Madi Delk / Permormed at Des Moines Onstage
December 13th at 7:30 pm / December 14th at 7:30 pm / December 15th at 2:00 pm
General Admission Tickets / All seats $5.00 / Online and at the door
A DMO Student Production / A fundraiser for DMO Children’s Theater
While Simon sits in his writing shed, trying and failing to write the ultimate post-modern novel, Juliette sits in a bleak little hostel room, struggling to write about the genocide that killed her family. These two people from entirely different worlds meet at a refugee center in London, where Simon’s new job is to help refugees write. Juliette arrives with high hopes that Simon will immediately fast-track her book to a top British publishing house. Simon expects to meet a timid young woman from a deprived third-world background who will be over-awed at her first encounter with a real writer. These expectations are soon to be confounded. The manuscript that Juliette brings to their first meeting turns out to be starkly impersonal. Patently absent is any reference to its author’s own experience. Simon urges Juliette to change her approach and write her personal story instead. As the story moves forward, Simon becomes obsessed with his resistant writing student, an obsession that channels its way into the releasing of his own blocked creativity. With the support and encouragement of an increasingly skilled Simon, Juliette begins to re-write her book. The point at which she always stops, however, is the actual account of her family’s murder. This she cannot write or even speak about. The play culminates in the final unleashing of the dark story locked inside her, enabling her to move on with her life, and leaving Simon to re-evaluate his own. This play, about the healing power of writing, contains much humor as well as darkness, as we watch the development of a relationship across a wide cultural and age divide.
Nominated as Time Out Critics’ Choice, the play has been broadcast by BBC World Service.
Cast:
Juliette – Sonja Watson
Simon – Spencer Gilbert
Production Team:
Director – Madi Delk
Stage Manager – Katie Coon
Light Design – Claire Guderjahn
Scenic Design- Katie Coon
Costumes – Paige Marshall
Props – Lauren Malcomson
Sound Design – Mark Toebben
Producer – Bob Filippone
“Heartfelt and touching.” —The Guardian
“Absorbing and deeply moving…an important, timely piece of theatre that manages to explore political issues and express moral outrage without ever once lapsing into moralising and political rhetoric.” —What’s On in London
“A profoundly affecting and moving play which brings home the point that refugees and victims of war zones world-wide have had normal, even comfortable lives before being randomly wrecked.” —Theatreworld
“[A] harrowing, powerful and yet beautiful piece of theatre.” —The Stage
“A remarkable achievement…this is a stirring tale of human bravery in the face of adversity.” —Time Out—Critics’ Choice