The year is still young, and already I’ve been wowed by the Halifax theatre scene. Great comedy like the KTS production of Noises Off has made me laugh. Plays like Ms. Right Now, Pageant and Intimate Apparel have made me ponder society’s obsession with appearance. And brave and brilliant works like The Monument and The Men Who Killed Me have made me weep.
The Men Who Killed Me is a piece of theatre created by Dal law student Alayna Kolodziechuk from a book of the same title which contains eyewitness accounts of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. It draws on the talents of six amazing actors who bring to life both victims and predators.
The piece begins by laying out the history between the Tutsi and Hutu people and then moves into the terrifying accounts of the atrocities committed during the genocide. It explores the complex emotions of both the aggressors and survivors during the violence and in the years after.
While some of the piece is staged as direct address to the audience, Kolodziechuk has also heightened the theatricality by weaving in movement, dramatization and music. (The lovely sound of live strings is particularly haunting.)
This is difficult theatre to watch. The stories are horrific. The pace is relentless. But when so many brave people have shared their testimony, are we not required to listen?
Where: The Bus Stop Theatre, 203 Gottingen Street
When: March 12-14 at 8pm.
Tickets: $12 for students and $15 for general admission. Available at Venus Envy or from Chelsey Roy (chelseyroy@gmail.com; [902] 223-5748).
For more information visit The Men Who Killed Me on Facebook.
This article appears in Mar 8-14, 2012.