Signature: What are children taught in school about the
history of Hutu-Tutsi relations?
so if the curtain blows and I’m talking to my Auntie, she’s
KH: They’re taught the narrative of “The Belgians came in
past.” If you grow up in a world where the dead walk with
and created this class system that favored Tutsis because
you and curtains flutter and fly, it bleeds into your work. So
they seemed ‘more like Belgians’”—Tutsis were considered
I’m constantly pushing my directors to realize, visually, that
taller, smarter, prettier. All of this hatred fomented over
reality. I have really enjoyed the conversations surrounding
years, over generations, until 1994 happened and Hutu
how we’re going to pull off effects I haven’t seen before
extremists decided to use a political moment, the assas-
onstage. In movies you can do it with CGI, but onstage is
sination of President Habyarimana, as the jumping off point
a hell of a challenge. If we do pull it off, then you’ll have
to the slaughter of Tutsi people. There have been pops of
to believe, and this is a play about belief. You need to
violence against the Tutsi people for many years—in 1959,
step into that reality in order to go on the roller coaster
in the ‘60s, in 1973, but this was the biggest. A million
ride of the play.
like “Oh, that’s my dead husband Walter, he just walkin’
people were killed, in a hundred days.
Signature: Talk me through some of the research you’ve done.
Signature: Why did you want Kibeho to be the second
play of your residency with us?
KH: My top three sources are Philip Gourevitch’s book We
KH: You know, I love epic plays. I love lots of people on
Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With
stage. To be given the opportunity—as a woman, as a
Our Families, Machete Season by Jean Hatzfeld, and then a
black playwright—to see such a grandiose vision on the
documentary called My Neighbor, My Killer by Anne Aghion.
biggest stage at Signature, is such a blessing. I thank
Machete Season in particular brings home how the killers
Jim [Houghton] for giving us this opportunity because
enjoyed it. It just makes you realize how close humanity is
plays like this don’t happen in New York. It’s also very
to the nastiness within. We’re capable of such good, and of
different from what people know of my work. Even though
such, such evil. I got to meet perpetrators in Rwanda and
Hurt Village has an epic nature to it too, the style is totally
they looked like my dad. They were joking and laughing…
different. I think Kibeho probably has some overlap with
it was really chilling. You know how some people are afraid
The Mountaintop in terms of dealing with spirituality and
to go into graveyards? Well it’s not dead people we need to
magical realism on stage, but it’s another level. I think these
be scared of. It’s the people who look just like you and are
huge, multi-character, layered plays are what I do best.
capable of killing you.
That’s what I want to see on stage! n
In the documentary, you learn about the process of forgiveness in Rwanda. In my opinion, there has been a huge act of
performing forgiveness, and I think it’s taking a lot of time for it
to actually resonate with people and for forgiveness to actually
happen. I think that can be applied to a lot of moments in history when it comes to atrocities—from Bosnia to the Holocaust.
Signature: How do you feel about “illusion” or magic onstage?
KH: I am a huge, huge fan of illusion. Being African American
and growing up in the South, there is an acceptance of
spirituality that I d