You’ll never forget the woman you’ve never heard of
Daniel Nelson
US actor Stephen Tobolowsky got it right when he said: “I had never before heard of Agathe. Now I will never forget her.”
Most of the audience watching the play that bears her name at the Playground Theatre in west London will probably feel the same.
Agathe Uwilingiyimana was assassinated after one day as Rwanda’s head of state — an extraordinary event almost forgotten today because it took place between two even more dramatic occurrences: the assassination of her predecessor in a missile attack on his plane and by the subsequent anti-Tutsi genocide in which perhaps 800,000 died.
Uwilingiyimana was “a moderate Hutu” — enough to put her on the death list. She was also an academic who believed in science and reason rather than tribe or other affiliation, and was an advocate for women and girls’ education.
The play covers the few hours before and after the missile strike against President Juvenal Habyarimana, to the moment when genocidaires surround the compound where, with the help of sympathetic United Nations peacekeepers, she had unsuccessfully sought refuge.
It’s a shocking and tragic story, but humane and darkly comic thanks to skilful writing, especially through the mouth of a sardonic Senegalese soldier: he, too, is based on a real character whose bravery saved scores of lives at the outset of the slaughter.
The short, intense play captures many of the key truths of the genocide: for example, that it was a deliberate policy rather than a spontaneous outburst and that the US and the UN refused to intervene (“Don’t cross the line between peace-keeping and peace-making”).
It’s shocking that British people know so little about the Rwanda genocide, but brilliant that so many people — actors, crew and creatives, everyone — have brought this awful, fascinating slice of history to a London stage.
Really, you won't forget Agathe, even if you previously knew nothing about her.
Agathe, £8-£24, is at the Playground Theatre, Latimer Road, W10 6RQ until 4 May, and at Stanley Arts Croydon, 12 South Norwood Hill, SE25 6AB on 30 April and 1 May. Info: https://www.theplaygroundtheatre.org.uk/whats-on