Music, vibrations, soul, life, joy, and energy, explodes from the stage…. and the play hasn’t yet begun. A welcome like no other, eight drums, pounded upon by the eight cast: a mix of Pakeha and Africans, playing multiple characters, line the back wall of the stage. From here they enter and exit, never leaving the stage.  

An exceptionally effective, simplistic design (John Verryt) supports the style of the production. Allowing for swift, unencumbered transitions, transporting us in time and space without a hitch, also gifting the exceptional lighting designer (Jane Hakararia) an open canvas to create upon.  

The pulsating majesty of the drums sets a strong platform for this ensemble cast to launch off into a beautifully constructed theatrical experience, set in a time and place that is as far from our Aotearoa as you get.  We are off to a hell of a start! 

Set in Rwanda, 1994, in a Zairian Congolese refugee camp following the genocide, it is based on the real life story of the courageous, Rwanda-born Francois Byamana and and his chance meeting with UN Volunteer Bob Askew a South Island Kiwi.

Although the director, Margaret-Mary Hollins, modestly states that this production is “a collaboration of talents from actors and the creative team…,” It is evident the weight of this rich theatrical experience rests firmly on the capable shoulders of Francois Byamana, writer Mike Hudson and director Hollins. The multiple narratives effortlessly weave a clear and distinct course that have me clued to my seat throughout.  As a writer myself, I appreciate the work that has gone into this. 

The central setting is a Red Cross camp that’s bursting at the seams. Demand on the limited resources is pushing this eclectic team of volunteers over the edge.  Francois Byamana plays the central character, Philippe, who barely escaped the massacre with his life. He is an optimistic, affable ‘hard case’ who is able to bury his own hideous experiences in order to serve others, and is more than happy to help out where ever he can be used. 

Then there is the leader, Rufus, a French Canadian, played with subtle precision and relaxation by Bruce Phillips. Rufus is an experienced aid worker who manages the team along with his second in command, Ana, a no nonsense zealous German workaholic who wears her heart on her sleeve. She is expertly and effortlessly portrayed by Sylvia Rands. 

Supported by a team of aid workers and locals, these two experts are charged with distributing the aid, admirably trying to create order from chaos with a relentless work ethic combined with charm and humour while under enormous pressure. The paramount issue is that the camp is devoid of running water for the thousands of refugees.  Cracks are beginning to appear and all are starting to buckle under the stress. 

But hope finally arrives in the form UN volunteer Nick Halliday, skilfully delivered with emotional dexterity by Paul Barrett, a ‘water consultant’ who has lived a sheltered life in Nelson. Immediately he is overwhelmed by the scale and severity of the human suffering that permeates his senses and every turn. Young Philippe notices Nick’s inability to cope, so goes out of his way to befriend the genial Kiwi.  As the friendship grows, so too does Nick’s strength. This relationship in the backbone of the play. 

The multiple narratives include flashbacks to the days of old; stories that evoke the legends and myths of the ancient peoples: a time when the Gods roamed the earth and sheltered man; a time when man was indistinguishably connected in harmonious union to the physical and spiritual environments. This gives the play a spiritual dimension that I don’t feel is utilised enough in the writing, but is juxtaposed well with the horror of the present setting. 

Then there are flashbacks to a time of innocence before the genocide, before the turmoil, where we get an insight into those closest to Philippe: the local Priest, Mufuma, expertly conceived by the impressive Ahi Karunaharan; Latetia, Philippe’s young love, played by the talented and gorgeous Karima Mudat; and  especially his close bond with his loving mama, a gifted story teller, delicately articulated by Wanjiku Kiarie Sanderson.  

The love story is intriguing, but is not developed enough for my liking. I want to know more about her, more about them, more about love. 

As an original staff member at Mangere Arts Centre for three hectic years (and now freelance, specifically working with emerging South Auckland theatre community), I had the privilege to watch South Auckland and Pacifica theatre grow and develop its unique voice. The growth is evident, thanks to the purpose-built Mangere Arts Centre providing a professional performance space for emerging practitioners.

But that is only half of it. The Centre allows the local burgeoning theatre practitioners to experience the best of NZ theatre right in their backyard; productions that sharpen, encourage, inspired and challenge us. A Thousand Hills is a perfect example of that, at the price of a koha what’s more!

I commend the cast and creative team for their vision, strength and perseverance in bringing this story life, and bringing it to South Auckland. Though this run of this fantastic production has ended, the positive repercussions on the development of theatre will be felt for quite some time.

Till the next season of A Thousand Hills, ma te wa.

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There is something compelling about African drumming.  A Thousand Hills greets its audience with the cast of eight filling the theatre with African beats and song.  When the drumming stops the silence opens a space for a compelling story.  What a story it is! 

A Thousand Hills is a true epic story of one man’s survival from the Rwandan Genocide and his escape to the land of the long white cloud. It is based on the real life story of Francois Byamana and UN Volunteer Bob Askew from Nelson.  Byamana collaborated with writer Mike Hudson to create this rich theatrical experience. 

The tragic stories of dispossessed men women and children are regular news on TV.  This month it was the Australian boat people, the Lampedusa migrant boat tragedy, and the constant drive for funding for the hungry refugees.  Being so far away in the South Pacific it is as if we observe from a distance but have no real connection.  A Thousand Hills brings the issue straight to our hearts.  It is a story of trauma, brutality, dedication, and love.

Directed by Margaret-Mary Hollins, a cast of eight actors, both African and European, create the 1994 world of a Red Cross refugee camp in Zaire shortly after the Rwandan genocide.  There are flashbacks to the idyllic youth of Philippe (Francois Byamana) with his mama (Wanjiku Kiarie Sanderson).  This loving, caring and storytelling mother is beautifully articulated by Wanjiku. Francois’ energetically and emotionally fluid performance is a gem. 

In the Red Cross camp, Philippe, who escaped the massacre, is the go-between, fixer and helper to Rufus (Bruce Phillips), a French experienced aid manager, and Ana (Sylvia Rands), a passionate driven German workaholic.  These two professionals under enormous pressure admirably create order out of chaos with relentless energy, charm, rigour and sensitivity.

A Thousand Hills however is the story of WATER.  The camp has no running water for the 10,000 people.  Nick Halliday (Paul Barrett), a UN volunteer, is a naive Kiwi and expert ‘water consultant’. He arrives and barely copes with the barbaric situations.  It is the development of his relationship with the young Philippe that is the heart of the play.  

Paul Barrett plays this on a knife edge from simpering overwhelm, to articulate expert, to affectionate man.  He represents the best of Kiwi, a man that has frailties, practical skills, lacks the sophistication of the European colleagues and is no hero. He is “shit scared” most of the time.  However in this tragic situation he has to do something to change even one life.  He is the man who brings not only water in the physical sense, he brings a spring of hope to a young man’s life. 

John Verryt has designed the simple but effective set: canvas slung over poles quickly and dramatically creates the camp of tents.  The arrival of the water is truly a celebration.  

A Thousand Hills is an ensemble show with multiple characters played effectively by the rest of the cast. Philippe’s young love is the beautiful and sexy Latetia (Karima Mudat). Priest Mufuma (Ahi Karunaharan), and an aggressive soldier and lead percussionist (Yaw Baoteng), both bring vibrancy to their different characters.

The evil heart of A Thousand Hills, however, is treated in a stylised fashion.  I wanted to be shocked more with the barbaric elements of the story.  One character’s demise with a machete is almost pantomime.  I am sure there are other creative ways to make the fights and deaths more dramatically effective.   

There are moments in the play when the old spirits of the land burst into life to protect and change the lives of the people.  I am not completely convinced with the staging and get distracted by the smell of talc.  Given the power of indigenous spiritual protection we are beginning to understand in this country through the Tangata Whenua, I am surprised this element is not more fully explored. 

A Thousand Hills hits all the emotional high points, love, concern and redemption but could go further into the portrayal of the barbaric world from which the story evolves. 

The production captures the situation and challenges of Philippe’s story where Bob Askew from Nelson arranges for Francois Baymana from the Rwanda, Land of A Thousand Hills, to travel to a new home in The Land of the Long White Cloud.  He is now married with two children. 

This is the second production of this important play.  It will travel to Mt Eden prison for a performance and then to Mangere Arts Centre. [Between those seasons it was to have been hosted by the now non-operative Downstage in Wellington – ed.]  

Go feel the beat of the drum and be absorbed into a compelling story, well told and well acted. 

“A distillation of love from the crucible of Hell” – Bob Askew 

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The thought of a play about the Rwandan genocide may make you uneasy, but don’t let it put you off this excellent, sensitive, unusual production. It involves machetes at brief moments, but the play maintains a poetic, symbolic theatricality throughout.

In particular, Theo Gibson’s great music – African percussion led by Richard Yaw Boateng, strong acapella harmonies and Fela Kuti-style jams – works with Vera Thomas’ dreamworld lighting and John Verryt’s warm wooden set to make the context of atrocity easier to face. A production which trusts its audience to recognise a crisis without screeching violin strings makes a change from all those drawing-room dramas. [More] 

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A Thousand Hills is the visceral and confronting story of Francois Byaman, a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and the New Zealand Red Cross volunteer, Bob Askew, who helped him escape to New Zealand from a refugee camp in Zaire close to the Rwandan border. However, the story has many heroes. 

Francois Byamana, who has lived in New Zealand ever since he left Africa, plays himself. His character is called ‘Philippe’ in the play, on which he has obviously worked closely with writer Mike Hudson, to bring an authentic telling of his story to the stage. Bob Askew’s character is called ‘Nick Halliday’ in the play and acted by Andrew Grainger.

The play opens with African drumming, lead by Yaw Boateng, and song, which are at once lively and haunting, before Philippe begins his story. 

It is an uncommon privilege to have the real protagonist on stage acting in his own story – and one that is hard to get used to. It is all the more moving to know that he is reliving something traumatic that actually happened to him and is generous enough to share it with us. 

The supporting actors, directed by Margaret-Mary Hollins, are a joy to watch. Karima Mudat plays Philippe’s girlfriend Latetia, and also an aid worker. Wanjiku Kiarie Sanderson plays Philippe’s mother, an aid worker and a refugee. Jo Falou plays his father, a soldier and an aid worker. Yaw Boateng plays a soldier. Bruce Philips plays Rufus, a French Red Cross worker. Michele Hine plays Ana, a German aid worker. 

The setting moves back and forth between the refugee camp in Zaire and Philippe’s village in Rwanda, where he grew up and where he was suddenly plunged into the nightmare, during which his loved ones were slaughtered and he barely escaped the ‘devils in the night’. 

As well as humour, music and dance humanise and lighten the dark subject matter, as if to say: life goes on. Theo Gibson has done an excellent job as sound designer, putting together a haunting combination of sound effects and music, assisted by a talented team: composer John Gibson, singing coach Rochelle Bright, percussion director Yaw Boateng, and complemented by African dance sequences choreographed by Chole Davidson. 

The unassuming set by John Verryt is elegantly effective, consisting of plain canvas drops to represent the walls of refugee camp tents, an array of boxes that serve various functions and the use of a fire hose in an emotionally charged scene when the water is finally brought to the camp. The night with Philippe and his mother fishing in the river is beautifully evoked with lighting (designed by Vera Thomas) and a simple piece of watery fabric. 

Several scenes between Nick and Philippe humorously illustrate the cultural gap between them, which they strive to bridge; Nick tries to explain why, though New Zealand is multicultural, he himself doesn’t speak any of the other languages. Philippe also cannot comprehend social welfare. At the same time Nick struggles to come to terms with his violent surroundings – confronted with the daily reality of death, dodging snakes and machete-wielding bandits in the hills and feeling helpless in the face of traumatised, orphaned children. 

When Nick asks Philippe whether he is Tutsi or Hutu, he replies indignantly “I’m Rwandan”. An unlikely friendship develops between the tragedy-stricken Rwandan and the inexperienced English-born Kiwi volunteer – a water sanitation expert who has come to set up a reliable water supply for the camp.  

Philippe explains to his companion the misunderstanding about Rwanda, that “it is not a genocide, it is people brainwashed” into mad, indiscriminate massacring.

Without turning the play into a history lesson (it is more a brave and honest personal account of what these men went through), Philippe touches on the side of the Rwandan tragedy not often talked about: that the racial aspect of the massacres that killed 800,000-1,000,000 Rwandans in just over three months, was not ‘just tribal conflict’ (as it is commonly conveniently portrayed to this day) but was manufactured to political ends. Racial tensions strenuously honed by ‘those bloody Europeans’ (German and then Belgian colonialists), were allowed to explode into a massive human tragedy while the world knowingly stood by and watched. 

This is also the story of the aid workers at the camp in Zaire where Byamana found himself after leaving Rwanda. Rufus (Philips) and Ana (Hine) work tirelessly, with inadequate supplies and equipment, overcrowding and hundreds of people dying each day from cholera. The veteran aid workers soldier on, referring deprecatingly to themselves as ‘humanitarian junkies’, though they are heroes really.

As Philippe quotes Rufus as saying: “All you need in this life is a home, love and good health – all the rest is dust.”

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