Stoneham Theatre will present the New England Premiere of British playwright Sonja Linden’s "I Have Before Me A Remarkable Document Given To Me By A Young Lady From Rwanda," from April 5 – 22.  The piece was written in response to her encounters with a number of young Rwandan refugees at the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, where she was a writer in residence from 1997-2004.

As the story unfolds, Juliette, a young survivor of the Rwandan genocide, and Simon, a failing middle-aged British writer, form an unlikely relationship when she seeks out his help to write about her experiences. Together they embark on a touching journey where each helps the other reconnect to the world around them.

Directed by Weylin Symes, the two-person cast includes Dorcas Evelene Davis  and Owen Doyle.    

As the play's media materials state, in 100 terror-filled days from April to July 1994, in the Central African country of Rwanda, Hutu extremists murdered an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus, while the United States and the United Nations stood by and watched.

Though the killing occurred on a brutal, low-tech level by machete-wielding military and civilian butchers, this was not random violence, but the result of a well-organized genocidal plan. Despite urgent pleas from the U.N. commander of peacekeeping forces and horrifying images in the news, the world's only superpower refused to intervene, and the international community followed suit. Years later, Bill Clinton called his failure to act in Rwanda the "greatest regret" of his presidency.

Sonja Linden is an award-winning playwright, whose plays have been produced in London and in regional theatres in the UK as well as in the United States and Australia. The London productions include "Call Me Judas, " The Jewish Daughter" (sequel to Brecht's "The Jewish Wife") and "The Strange Passenger." 

While working with the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, Linden set up the Write to Life Project, a creative and testimonial writing program offering clients of the Foundation the opportunity to discharge their painful experiences of persecution and exile through the act of writing. Her concern to make these voices public led to her founding iceandfire theatre company, of which she is currently the artistic director.

Born out of the urgent need to give a platform to dispossessed voices, the company was launched in 2003 with the highly successful London premiere of "Young Lady From Rwanda."  The play was subsequently adapted for BBC World Service Radio Drama and in 2004 it went on a six week Arts Council funded national tour. "Young Lady From Rwanda" received its American premiere at the Missouri Repertory Theatre in April 2005. Since then it has been produced by a number of American theatres including the Milwaukee Rep, Washington's African Continuum Theater and the 6th@Penn Theatre, San Diego. It premiered in Dublin in September 2005.

Sonja's second play for iceandfire was inspired by the writings of five of her clients at the Medical Foundation, with the central story focusing on the real life experiences of a recent refugee from Darfur in Western Sudan. "Crocodile Seeking Refuge"  had its London premiere at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith in the autumn of 2005 and toured the UK in 2006.

For tickets and information  call the box office at 781-279-2200 or visit www.stonehamtheatre.org.

NOTE: Pay What You Want! is for the 4 p.m. performance on  Saturday, April 7.  Based on availability, these tickets will be sold an hour prior to the performance, day of performance only, cash only, and correct change must be given.   This performance will also be ASL Interpreted.

-- OnStage Boston

 

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