Our Lady of Kibeho at The Public Theater
Last night I went to a reading of a new play written by Katori Hall. The Public Theater is running a series entitled New Work Now until May 23rd and Our Lady of Kibeho was part of the series. The New Work Now series is awesome because it is completely free! All I had to do was call the Public Theater and reserve seats in advance. Even if you aren’t quick enough to do that, the theater has a stand by line and will fill any empty seats up with others who want to come in. Every night is a different play reading and after glancing at the descriptions, they all looked really interesting.
I chose Our Lady of Kibeho because the play was set in Rwanda. I am planning a trip to Rwanda in July and so I am trying to suck up all sorts of information about the country. For those of you who haven’t been to a play reading before, the actors sit in chairs across the stage and read the lines, with all the emotion the lines require. There is no “staging” or production, however. Instead, a narrator reads some stage directions out loud so the audience doesn’t miss any of the action. It is an interesting experience if you have never been to a reading before I highly recommend checking out this series.
The play itself was fabulous. I was surprised to learn that the second act had not been handed in to the Public Theater (and was maybe not even written) until Friday. From this reading alone, I was ready to buy tickets to the production of the play. The play raised serious issues of religion and race and Rwanda’s history, but did so in a story that was humorous and engaging. The audience (which included celebrity sighting Tracie Thoms) also seemed to agree.
After the reading I heard there was a reception with wine and cheese, but I didn’t stay. But the chance to discuss the reading after is another great thing about the series. New Work Now ends May 23rd, so I recommend checking out the sight soon and heading off to a reading!
