Makeda is captivated by a lifeless-looking face in the window across from hers. The face—shifting between that of an old woman and a young one—pulls her thoughts away from Bernard, her lover, whom she waits for in vain.
Set against the backdrop of the armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, this haunting and poetic text will be presented for the first time in a staged reading in German at the africologneFESTIVAL.
Makeda becomes consumed by the mystery of the woman’s face in the window. Driven by obsession, she enters the mind of this enigmatic figure—only to uncover a disturbing and violent inner world. As she sinks deeper into her imagination, the line between herself and the lifeless other begins to blur.
What if the woman she sees is, in fact, a reflection of herself? What if the child she once dreamed of having with Bernard—the one she carried in her womb—was nothing more than a nightmare taking shape inside her? Could a mother’s fears give birth to human flesh? Could that child be born… as a child soldier?
Winner of the Prix Récréâtrales
In October 2024, the 13th edition of africologne’s partner festival Les Récréâtrales in Burkina Faso honored the Congolese playwright Israël Nzila for his text Silence. The endowed prize, awarded by the Récréâtrales Festival, was presented for the first time in 2024 and supported by africologne and the Von-Brochowski-Süd-Nord Stifung. It promotes contemporary playwrights from African countries in their work and aims to give outstanding African dramatic voices more visibility on the international stage. An expert jury of playwrights and African theater professionals selected Nzila’s play Silence. In addition to the two-year support, Israël Nzila will benefit from a one-month writing residency in Ouagadougou in 2025 and the staging of his text during the next festival edition of Les Récréâtrales in 2026.
SCENIC DESIGN Shari Asha Crosson | TRANSLATION Flora Udochi Egbonu