Makeda is fascinated by a lifeless-looking face at the window opposite. The face, which sometimes looks like that of an old woman, sometimes like that of a young woman, distracts her thoughts from Bernard, her lover, for whom she is waiting in vain. At the africologneFESTIVAL, we are presenting the text, which is set against the backdrop of the armed conflict in the DR Congo, in a staged reading in German for the first time.
Makeda passionately tries to unravel the mystery of this woman’s head. But when she enters the mind of this figure, she discovers a disturbing, brutal world. Trapped in her imagination, her own fears and thoughts merge with the lifeless counterpart. What if the mysterious neighbor she sees before her is herself? What if the child that she and Bernard had wanted and that she was carrying in her womb was just her own nightmares taking shape inside her? Could a mother’s nightmares become human flesh in her own guts and be born as a child soldier?
Winner of the Prix Récréâtrales
The 13th edition of the africologne partner festival Les Récréâtrales in Burkina Faso honored the Congolese playwright Israël Nzila for his text Silence in October 2024. 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