[NEohioPAL] Berko review: 'I HAVE BEFORE ME....YOUNG LADY FROM RWANDA' (Dobama)

[Roy Berko]

Dobama does it again:  fine script, well performed and
directed
 
Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

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Dobama’s ‘I HAVE BEFORE ME A REMARKABLE DOCUMENT GIVEN
TO ME BY A YOUNG LADY FROM RWANDA,’ is typical Dobama.
 As it has done over and over, Dobama is showcasing
yet another theatrical gem.  The lightly financed
theatre with no home, just keeps coming up with the
right script, the right cast and the right director as
it wanders the Cleveland landscape. 

‘I HAVE BEFORE ME...’ is a touching, humorous,
meaningful story of the emotional and intellectual
relationship between Juliette, a young woman who was a
survivor of the 1994 Rwanda massacres, and Simon, a
British poet who tries to help her write her personal
story.  In the process, he finds his literary voice
and psychological substance, and she finds a
meaningful life.

The play has been called “A remarkable achievement
a
stirring tale of human bravery in the face of
adversity.”  And, “an important, timely piece of
theatre that manages to explore political issues and
express moral outrage without ever once lapsing into
moralizing and political rhetoric.” 

Sonja Linden, the play’s author based the material on
an experience she had while working at the Medical
Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture.  She
met a young woman from Rwanda, whose impulse to write
had started in a refugee camp shortly after the murder
of her entire family.  What began as a testimonial act
became a journey of healing, which resulted in her
feeling once again 'clean.'

As the daughter of refugees from Nazi Germany, Linden
felt compelled to draw attention to the appalling
situation in Rwanda so that holocausts like this
“would never happen again.”

Dobama’s production is outstanding.  Director Brian
Zoldessy grasps the concept and has brought all the
correct nuances into play.  The production moves
smoothly, accenting the humor and pathos in just the
right ways.

Scott Miller develops Simon perfectly as the
angst-filled and frustrated British poet.  At the
start we realize that Simon has lost his productive
voice.  As the play proceeds we experience his getting
in touch with the emotions he needs to return to be
his creative self.  Miller does an excellent job of
nonverbally transition from emotionally frozen to
emotionally euphoric.

Andrea Belser makes Juliette live, she inhabits the
role.  We feel her terror, we experience her losses,
we silently cheer for her to achieve her goal, we
revel in her reattachment with a family member, we are
driven to understand the horror of horror.

Richard Ingraham’s sound design adds great depth and. 
The sounds of  Rwanda underscore the beauty of the
country and the misery of yet another senseless
destruction of precious human life.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  What a way to start a new
theatrical season!!! ‘I HAVE BEFORE ME A REMARKABLE
DOCUMENT GIVEN TO ME BY A YOUNG LADY FROM RWANDA’ is a
MUST SEE production.  Bravo Dobama!

The play runs through January 11 in Cuyahoga Community
College-Eastern Campus’s Little Theatre.  Then it goes
on a goodwill tour:  January 24—Pilgrim Church in
Tremont; 25—Unitarian Society in Cleveland Heights;
26—Church of the Resurrection, Solon; 27—Our Lady of
Peace, Shaker Blvd in Cleveland, 31—WSEM; Reinberger
Auditorium on Detroit in Cleveland; and February
1—Cleveland Heights University Heights Public Library,
Lee Road in Cleveland Heights.  For tickets call
216-932-3396 and leave a message or go on-line at 
www.ticketleap.com.  Additional performances will be
at the Maltz Museum in Beachwood on January 30
(216-593-0575) and on February 2 at Beaumont School in
Cleveland Heights (216-397-0839).



Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2001 through 2007, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info
      
Roy's theatre and dance reviews appear regularly on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source.   To subscribe to this free service via the World Wide Web, visit http://mailman.listserve.com/listmanager/listinfo/neohiopal.  His reviews also appear on www.coolcleveland.com


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