Rwandan director Dorcy Rugamba shares with Uchenna Izundu his experiences on staging The Investigation, a play about Auschwitz with Rwandan actors in this BBC Africa Beyond interview.

Why have you chosen to direct The Investigation?

I discovered this play on stage and immediately it struck me as incredibly topical even though it deals with events that date from the Second World War. Evidently, as I listened to the play, Rwanda came to mind at every moment. But it wasn’t just Rwanda, there was also the backdrop of modern society of which the Nazi genocide was one of the most extreme aspects. In short, it is a play about the genocide which is neither fascinated by the murders nor dedicated to solemn commemoration. The play exposes the facts clinically, methodically, and allows the public to draw their own conclusions about the stories. It is this method of giving responsibility to the audience that most appealed to me.

Read complete interview

As Rwandans struggle with the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, one theatre director is turning to a play about the Holocaust for answers. The Guardian’s Jon Henley meets with director Dorcy Rugamba to discuss The Investigation.

On the afternoon of April 6 1994, Dorcy Rugamba was in Butare visiting a sick aunt when his father—80 miles away in the Rwandan capital, Kigali—phoned. "Don't come back," he said. "Stay where you are, for the time being at least. It's not looking good." Early the next morning, he called again. "It's looking bad," he said. "We're taking shelter in the corridor. If the number in the living room doesn't answer, try the one in the bedroom." The corridor between the bedrooms was, Rugamba knew, the safest place in the house: to hit you, a bullet would have to pass through at least two walls.

When Rugamba rang the phone in the living room a few hours later, there was no answer. He tried the bedroom. No answer either. Later, his younger brother rang. "Some soldiers came," he said. "They took us into the garden and shot us. Everyone is dead."

Read complete article