It appears, however, that theatre for the sake of recovery has become a natural tool in conflict and post-conflict areas. Such is the case of South Africa where a large body of dramatic expression exists in connection with the ongoing process of “Truth and Reconciliation.” In Rwanda, many of those who initially produced written testimonials, novels, and films have felt compelled to adapt their work on stage. It is not uncommon to see theatre used during the April commemorations of the genocide in Rwanda, as well as among Rwandan communities in the Diaspora. Some documentary films on Rwanda bear aspects of theatricality when, for instance, during their testimonials, both survivors and perpetrators attempt to re-enact the events. The most disturbing example can be found in a German documentary entitled Der Mo ̈rder meiner Mutter (My Mother’s Killer) in which Martin Buchholz follows Euge ́nie Musayidire’s vivid confrontation with her mother’s accused murderer. The perpetrator re-enacts the murder for Musayidire upon her insistent request. She, in turn, is seen imitating the gestures of her mother’s assassin.
A tentative listing of the theatrical corpus about the Rwandan genocide includes written and non-written stage productions, radio theatre, produced within and outside the country by Rwandan and non-Rwandan artists. Radio theatre, such as the series Urunana, enjoys the widest audience because plays and sketches are primarily performed in Kinyarwanda. Radio is an ideal mode of mass communication in Rwanda because most households have access to it. The medium existed prior to the genocide; therefore, the public is familiar with it. The sizable number of radio- theatre productions before the 1994 genocide may enlighten us as to the nature of propaganda that led to genocide. In post-genocide Rwanda, there are productions by traveling troupes and by the University of Butare’s art students. Ongoing projects by veteran professional groups such as Kalisa Rugano’s Ballet The ́aˆtre Mutabaruka, participate in national and inter- national productions. Other dramatists include Jean-Marie Vianney Rurangwa and Jean-Marie Kayishema. Thanks in part to Koulsy Lamko’s work at the University of Butare’s Center for the Arts, we continue to see the rise of new creative initiatives, especially among younger Rwandan scriptwriters like Odile Gakire Katese, and religious-leaning Patrick Kamanzi’s Ballet du Roi des rois/King of Kings.
Outside Rwanda, non-Rwandan artists have also written and/or staged their plays. The most widely known is perhaps Rwanda 94, a polymorphic and polyphonic theatrical presentation by the Belgian group Groupov, at the 1999 Festival d’Avignon. The play, which lasted six hours, was conceived and performed by a group of Rwandan and non-Rwandan artists. Real testimony of survivors and real media footage are mixed with elements of theatre such as music and actors on stage playing parts of journalists and then–FrenchPresident Francois Mitterrand. The written version of this presentation has been published and includes analytical essays on theatre and its meaning in relation to genocide. Boubacar Boris Diop has adapted his novel Murambi: le livre des ossements (Murambi, the Book of Bones) to the stage in France, the United States, and his native Senegal. Elsewhere, Erik Ehn’s Maria Kizito and Sonja Linden’s I Have before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me by a Young Lady from Rwanda (2003) are some of the plays that have been performed on stage in the United States.
Theatre in Rwanda, as is the case elsewhere, has its origin in daily rituals, as well as in rituals of life events such as birth, marriage, and death. Genocide, a unique event, forever obliterates these rituals: entire gen- erations are lost, family lineage is destroyed, and community life disrupted. No society has ready-prepared rituals to deal with the aftermath of such a col- lective experience of death and destruction. New rituals must be formed so that people can mourn their dead, properly commemorate the event, preserve the memory, and create a path to reconciliation. In the aftermath of genocide, daily rituals such as greetings are changed in this Manichean society where one is either a survivor or a perpetrator.
In the context of genocide, language, as scholars of the Holocaust have taught us, disintegrates. Communication is severely hindered. During the decades when the massacre of Tutsi was being prepared and carried out, communication among Rwandans was at best one-sided and limited to government-sponsored messages of hate. There was no dialogue, no debate, no forum, and thus no opportunity for dissent. The fact that the genocide occurred at all, committed by regular human beings, illustrates the lack of population input/feedback. Scholars and practitioners of performing arts have demonstrated how theatre can be used to restore language, and perhaps even move the nation toward fulfilling desired democratic ideals.
Koulsy Lamko is one person who realized the potential for theatre in post-genocide Rwanda. Like Boubacar Boris Diop, Lamko was a participant in the project Rwanda: Devoir de me ́moire. He was born in Chad but was forced into exile because of war in his native country. He went to live in Burkina Faso, where he helped popularize the Theatre of Development. The multi-talented artist has published several plays, stories, poetry, and critical essays. His novel La phale`ne des collines, a quasi-fabulist text, is his contri- bution to Devoir de me ́moire. At the end of the project, Lamko immediately understood that presenting the work on stage was crucial. He subsequently decided to remain in Rwanda where he later founded the University of Butare’s Center for the Arts. The Center’s goals at the time were to promote the use of arts to advance peace, social justice, and reconciliation.