16 October, 2007: Washington, DC -- The latest production to open at Washington DC’s Atlas Performing Arts Center prefers to be called a “project” rather than a play. This is because this particular group of actors and singers has a goal that goes beyond mere entertainment: each individual involved in South Africa’s Truth in Translation project is looking to heal some of the most conflict-torn areas of the world one performance at a time.

Truth in Translation is the brainchild of Director Michael Lessac, who brought together a cast of diverse South African actors and the music of beloved South African musician and composer Hugh Masekela. The project started in 2006 in order to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of the creation of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The actors were brought together in a workshop setting to organically develop the script for the show.

This project is so unique because it examines the TRC through one of its most overlooked components: the interpreters who were hired to translate the painful and often graphic testimony of the victims of the apartheid regime into all 11 of the official languages of South Africa. They related stories of torture, murder, disappearance, rape, and racism--all the while with the expectation that their voices would remain impassive and that they would follow the mantra they had been taught from the first moment of their hiring: “you must not become involved.” The script contains actual testimony from TRC transcripts, which Lessac researched for two years before bringing his creation to the stage.

It was the goal of the ensemble not only to promote South African theatre, but to help to advance a single South African identity. Theatre has had the opportunity to play an important role in identity-formation in South Africa because, with the end of apartheid and minority rule, theatrical productions could become desegregated as well. With the end of segregation came the opportunity for black and white South Africans to finally sit together in one theatre and watch racially-mixed casts present uniquely South African stories for the first time in half a century. This ideal of unity is represented in the composition of Truth’s cast itself, which includes sons of white South African policemen and former members of the African National Congress’ military wing working together in a tense, emotional, yet ultimately harmonious situation.

What’s most interesting and dynamic about this ambitious project might not be who is involved or what they say, but where in the world they’ve been and plan to go in the future. While the content of the play may be uniquely South African, its creators consider the themes and issues confronted to be universal and especially poignant for those living in former conflict areas. Before the show even opened in Johannesburg in September, 2006 it had begun an international tour in August of that year, playing Kigali and Butare in Rwanda. These shows involved workshops and groups discussions, with the emphasis of talking about alternatives to dispute resolution and justice and processes of reconciliation.

While the idea of a conflict tour is a rather new and unique feature of this project, the usefulness of theatre in reinforcing and forging national identities has long been acknowledged by artists and politicians alike. Phrynichus’ play The Capture of Miletus served as one of the earliest examples of how theatre could affect the lives of the people: Phrynichus was fined by the government of ancient Athens and his play, which told the story of an Athenian defeat in battle, was banned from the city after it caused his audience to burst into uncontrollable sobs and was henceforth viewed as a menace to the people of the city-state. In Europe’s post-Napoleonic period, as states were looking to foster nationalistic feelings in their citizens, theatre also played a vital role. In order to forge civic pride and reinforce identities, the topics of these works became very specialized: in Germany, Hermann dramas were popular; in Italy, stories about the Foscari abounded; Viking and bardic plays were all the rage in the Scandinavian countries. The idea of exporting one’s own experience in the hopes of healing the personalized wounds of another country is a newer and bolder attempt to use theatre for political and reconciliatory purposes.

DC is the end of the show’s U.S. tour and it will continue on to Sweden before exploring the reception of its themes in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Those involved with the project believe that merely stimulating dialogue of any kind is a good place to start on the journey to heal a nation.