(background): Nyungwe Forest, Rwanda. (top left): Marsha Stephanie Blake and
Joaquina Kalukango in Hurt Village at Signature Theatre, 2012. (bottom left):
Kambi Gathesha, Danaya Esperanza, and Jade Eshete at the first rehearsal for
Our Lady of Kibeho. (below): David Harewood in The Mountaintop at Theatre 503
in London, 2007. (far right): Michael Greif and Katori Hall speak at the first rehearsal
for Our Lady of Kibeho.
up many, many, hills, on unpaved roads, red dust everywhere.
I’m not sure exactly why Our Lady
picked her to talk to, but she’s
definitely a vessel of light and love.
Even if she has a little attitude.
We finally made it up the hill, and I saw this woman ushering kids
out of choir practice and I remember she had Jesus floating all
over her clothes. I went up to her and said, “I’m Katori Hall, I’m
a playwright from America and I want to meet the visionary!”
And she was like, “You have to go down the hill and talk to the
priest to find her.” When I found the priest I explained to him that
I was in Kibeho to write this play about Rwanda and Our Lady
and that I wanted to talk to the visionary. So we went up the hill
and he said, “That’s her right there.” It was the woman with the
Jesus-es floating all over her clothes! She had misled me
because she was tired of talking to people. That moment
changed my approach to the story. Because these people are
visionaries, yes, but they’re also just regular people who get
tired. It allowed me to add more texture and flavor to my
characterizations of them. I eventually found out that MarieClaire, the third visionary, was killed during the genocide, so
that added another layer as I continued working on the piece.
Anyway, Anathalie kept telling me she was “too busy” to talk to
me, so I asked the priest to give me her cell number. Yes, visionaries have cell phones too! When I called her, she picked up and
told me she was praying—and I’m like “How you prayin’ and you
just picked up your cell ph