Written by Jackie Sibblies Drury First performance 2012 Original language English language | Date premiered 2012 Playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury Genres Drama, Comedy | |
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Similar Angels in America: Millenniu, The Convert, An Octoroon, Disgraced, Clybourne Park | ||
We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Südwestafrika, Between the Years 1884–1915 is a 2012 comeda/drama play by the American playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury.
Contents
Plot
The play is a comedic dramatization of the largely forgotten Herero and Namaqua genocide which took place in Namibia between 1904 and 1907 when the region was a German colony, after Germany confiscated tribal lands and the Herero people rebelled. The retribution over four years by German soldiers resulted in more than 65,000 deaths. The play deals with the enormity of this story by introducing it through the actors of a "presentation" which is intended to tell the story, and shows how the various players respond to the gruesome facts during first rehearsal.
Performances and reception
The play was read at the Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago in April 2012 as part of that city's Ignition Festival of New Plays. It was first performed at the off-Broadway Soho Repertory Theatre in New York between November 15 and December 2, 2012. Its European premiere was at the Bush Theater in London between February 28 and April 12, 2014. Other performances have included The Matrix Theatre Company in Los Angeles where the cast was nominated for an Ovation Award in 2013, in Washington, DC, and in Boston.
The play received mixed reviews, mainly because of its attempted reach. Said one critic, "[The play] falters a bit in its cathartic stretch, but the work accomplishes something signally important: In recalling a traumatic chapter of African history, it magnifies the biases and conflicts that are inextricably part of the act of remembrance itself."