PLATEFORME

Next week, the afriCOLOGNE festival will host the book launch of SPUREN (Traces), which was recently published by Theater der Zeit. This anthology brings together nine plays by authors from Benin, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, the Republic of Congo, Senegal, Uganda and the African diaspora. The selected texts tell stories of social change, resistance, identity and memory – sometimes in a poetic and condensed form and sometimes in a direct and confrontational manner. «Appointment with gOD» by the Ugandan festival director and playwright Asiimwe Deborah Kawe (translated into German by Lisa Wegener under the title ‹Verabredung mit gOTt›) is part of the selection. In an email exchange with Frank Weigand, the theatre maker discussed the influence of traditional storytelling on her work, the struggle against patriarchy, and the pleasure of writing complex female characters.

Frank Weigand: «Appointment with gOD» deals with the absurdities and arbitrariness of applying for visas for the US at a US embassy in an unnamed African country. How did this text come about?

Asiimwe Deborah Kawe: My observation of what was happening at the US embassy in my country whenever I went there to apply for a US Visa. I thought that all that was happening was very strange, funny and also invisible to the public locally and globally.

Although there are two main characters, the women Kakye and Achen, the play develops into a kind of oratorio that describes the fate of a whole group of people. Was this musical aspect of the play planned from the beginning?

My writing and theatre making is informed by and rooted in the storytelling traditions that I was raised on. So, I never really plan to do anything outside of what I know storytelling to be or of who I am. When I create, these different elements of storytelling, whether it’s music, song, movement, choral, fall in without necessarily me being intentional about it.

Despite all the competition for visas, a kind of solidarity, almost a friendship, develops between the two protagonists. Is this solidarity between women a crucial theme of the text?

All the themes raised in the play are crucial. I think that human beings will unite if they feel that they’re faced with a common foe/challenge/obstacle to archive whatever it is they are hoping to be/get. Divisions will come in when the oppressor succeeds at dividing them, and selfishness, self-centredness, and egos take over. In this case, the two human beings that are our protagonists happen to be women, and I personally love writing strong, complex women characters. For this particular theme, I’m also a firm believer that when women get together, find their voice and take up space, for the most part, something shifts in a positive way.

Most playwrights from African countries who manage to become better known in Europe are men. Why is that? Do you feel that this about to change?

Our societies are very patriarchal, whether in Africa, Europe or elsewhere. Women in many African cultures have been the keepers and custodians of culture and the arts. In many African cultures, especially in the pre-colonial era, many communities celebrated women artists, and women were at the forefront of storytelling and other artforms. Of course, this was not necessarily the case all over Africa. However, colonialism and foreign religions introduced the element of submissiveness of women, which meant that the areas where women took up leadership were stripped away from them. I think that this is gradually changing, but I also believe that it will take time. Patriarchy has existed for centuries. It will not go away overnight.

Some texts «migrate» more easily than others from one culture to another. Which essential aspect of your play must  – under any circumstances – be preserved in the translation?

When I write, I tend to think that the more authentic my voice is, the more my work will «migrate». For me it’s important that the authenticity of my voice, the tone of the text, the dark humor, the ability to be mad and laugh at absurdities are preserved, because I think that all that transcend cultures and languages. So, when I think about it, I don’t worry about preservation as such, I want to see that the translation captures my voice of writing in its authentic form.

Book launch SPUREN

on June 16 at the Orangerie Theater, Cologne

Tickets and information here.

A few weeks ago, Asiimwe Deborah Kawa’s latest play, «Gelobtes Land» (Promised Land), had its German-language premiere at the Munich Residenztheater, directed by Jakab Tarnóczi.

Tickets and information here.

Asiimwe Deborah Kawe is an award-winning playwright, producer and performer. Currently, the Founding Producing Artistic Director of Tebere Arts Foundation and the Kampala International Theatre Festival. Asiimwe worked with the Sundance Institute Theatre program for several years. Ms. Kawe holds a Diploma and a B. A. in performing arts and Theatre and an M.F.A. in Writing for Performance. Her plays include The Promised Land, Red Hills, Forgotten World, Cooking Oil, Appointment with gOD, Will Smith Look Alike, to mention but a few. Asiimwe has been a writing fellow at the Akademie Schloss Solitude, a guest Artist at Pomona College, Brooklyn College and elsewhere. Recently she was a playwright in residency at the Residenz Theater in Munich, and an awardee at the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre. Ms. Kawe lives in Kampala with her family.

For more about Asiimwe’s work, see below: www.asiimwedeborahkawe.org, www.tebere.org, www.kampalainternationaltheatrefestival.com