The Book of Life

Sept 14 THURS

7:30 pm

Fine Arts Theatre

Co-created, written, and performed by Odile Gakire Katese

Co-created and directed by Ross Manson

Projection design by Sean Frey

Composed by Mutangana Moise

Featuring Ingoma Nshya, The Women Drummers of Rwanda

How do we undo the un-undo-able? We let them live again.

During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, one million people were killed in one hundred days. The Book of Life is an uplifting theatrical experience blending storytelling, shadow puppetry, and drumming, that dwells on resilience and recovery — not loss — as it explores how people contend with tragedy through a fierce and joyful assertion of life. Featuring the true story of Rwandan writer/performer/women’s rights advocate Kiki Katese and her “Book of Life”—a collection of letters written by ordinary Rwandese to the victims of the genocide — this play sheds a hopeful light on the plight of women and girls in Rwanda and the possibility of improving lives through art.

Supported by THE CHRISTINE AND THOMAS PAVLAK PERFORMING ARTS CENTER ENDOWMENT