Writer Mike Hudson's play is a diamond in the rough.
Wanjiku Kiarie Sanderson and Francois Byamana
A fictionalised account of the experiences of Rwandan genocide survivor Francois Byamana and Kiwi aid worker Bob Askew, A Thousand Hills is as much an act of bearing witness to humans’ capacity for both atrocity and love as it is a piece of theatre.
There’s much to praise in director Margaret-Mary Hollins’ pacy 90-minute production. The music in particular makes a huge contribution to the show’s success, helping sell big emotional moments and assisting in smooth transitions between scenes. Directed by Theo Gibson with live percussion led by cast member Yaw Boateng, the music is also crucial in communicating and making plausible the stubborn optimism the play insists on.
John Verryt’s set has an effective simplicity, the main location a post- genocide refugee camp conveyed by stacks of boxes and sheets draped over wooden poles lashed with rope, while the lighting (Vera Thomas) and sound design (Gibson, again) are excellent at economically establishing a sense of time, place and atmosphere.
The cast – especially stalwarts Andrew Grainger, Bruce Philips and Michele Hine – deliver sincere, unshowy performances. That’s certainly also the case with Byamana’s portrayal of “Philippe”, a composite of his and others’ experiences, but though there’s no denying the authenticity he brings to the role, at times his relative lack of craft results in a corresponding lack of effect.
The play was developed by writer Mike Hudson over a number of years, and one hopes he will continue to work on it. As it stands, it’s a diamond in the rough but there’s more that can be mined from this material, primarily by telling less and showing more.
A THOUSAND HILLS, by Mike Hudson, directed by Margaret-Mary Hollins, Herald Theatre, Auckland, until October 30.