"The Investigation" by Urwintore at Chicago Shakepeare Theater on January 29 in Chicago, IL

The set up for the production of "The Investigation," by the Rwandan theater company Urwintore, couldn't have been much more compelling. This company, comprised of Hutus and Tutsis, is performing Peter Weiss's play about the trials of Nazis after WWII. The horrible crimes perpetrated against victims in the concentration camps are described by Rwandan actors who might have fallen on either side of the genocide that took place in 1994. One doesn't have to see the play to understand its point: altough we say "Never again" about the holocaust, we clearly don't mean it. After all, nearly a million Tutsis were killed in Rwanda in '94.

For me, the specifics of the production are incredibly moving. Men and women who were on different sides of that fight were performing together. Imbedded in that action is the recognition of Hutu actors of the crimes they committed and perhaps a kind of forgiveness granted by the Tutsi actors. And, like I said above, having the representatives of another genocide read the lines of a play about the holocaust is itself a metaphysical accusation. As the actors speak their lines, they describe what may have happened to their family members or what their family members may have perpetrated on the families' of their fellow actors. It also obliterates time by connecting the two genocides.

The interesting drama of the production, however, was largely embedded in the production's metaphysical meanings. I found the actual thing lacking performative strength. The actors' delivery of lines rarely moved me and there was no dramatic arc. It felt like a reading of a play rather than a performance of a play. So, while the ideas infused in the creation of the production were fascinating, sitting through it was not.