Most students are cowed by the immensity of gender-based violence in the East Congo. Their eyes glaze over and their stomachs drop as they sort through the complexity.
Leah Bomberger, a sophomore in the School of International Service, however, transformed the horror she discovered in researching the country into a play that would reach people and convey with immediacy the human quality of the chaos so often lost. The play she wrote, "If Thy Tongue Can Speak," opens this Friday in the McDowell Formal Lounge, and has been introduced by a week of fundraising and publicity on the main quad.
Bomberger admitted there is reason for people to be overwhelmed by the situation in the Congo. The educated, academic international-relations community comprises the majority of those currently championing the Congo because they understand the nature of African politics and have the time and motivation to grasp the complexity of the situation, Bomberger said.
"The conflict of the Congo cannot be condensed into two sentences," she said. "We want to connect the academic part of this with an art form that reaches kids. And when I say kids, I mean people like me."
Set in North Kivu, a region in Eastern Congo, the play stitches together a series of monologues largely based on narratives of the violence from the Human Rights Watch report on the country. There is no main character or thread connecting the stories. Rather, the monologues act as snapshots, offering an immediate glimpse into the lives of the Congolese, but also the broader, human implications of the violence.
One tells the story of a child soldier exploring how the region's violence transforms innocent children into men capable of violence. Another, familiarly called the "Sarah Jessica Parker monologue," features two women, one a typical American college girl and the other a typical Congolese woman. The women take turns telling their stories without addressing the other, articulating how irreconcilable their perceptions on sexual freedom are.
Reading the narratives from the Human Rights Watch report kindled Bomberger's passion to educate others about the region. However, she melded what she read with dialogue so the stories would be understood by those learning about the Congo for the first time.
"A story this broad and emotional will tap something that you have gone through in your personal experience," she said.
Kelsey Scherer, a freshman in SIS and the show's director, worked with Bomberger to teach the cast the issues in East Congo and how to create an honest and inspirational show. Scherer said she coaches her actors not to go into melodrama.
"I want people to see it and have a heart for this," she said.
Holly Hancock, a freshman in SIS and cast member, said the experience of working on this play has been eye-opening.
"The producers and directors could have just started a club," she said. "But theater is a powerful medium for information and social justice."
To connect the dots of the show, a panel of activists and scholars will follow each evening's performance.
Alexis Nadin, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs and SIS, organized the speaker component of the program and also worked at the grassroots level to get funding and space.
"They're the theater and I'm the activist," Nadin said. "My job is bridging that gap."
She worked to create ways for students to take what they learned from the performance and do more.
"We want this to be a component of people's lives rather than a power point," she said.
The play stemmed out of Bomberger's and Nadin's shared experience of interning for the organization Congo Global Action. Knowing Bomberger had experience in theater, Nadin approached her to create a play about the Congo.
"I had this major left brain/right brain moment," Bomberger said. "Half of me was like, 'Yes!' but the other half was like, 'No!'"
Toying with the idea of creating a play, Bomberger began researching the region. She said she holed herself up at a Starbucks in Glover Park reading an amalgamation of literature that she called "Congo 101." It was there she found an immediate emotional connection to what she was reading.
Bomberger wants the audience members to think about the performance and process it after they see it. She said she hopes students take action.
"What is in your hand?" she said. "What can you do? It's that damn easy."
The title, "If Thy Tongue Can Speak," captures the main theme of the performance - talking about the issues. It came from a scene in Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus" that shaped a similar scene in "Tongue." In the scene, a woman, raped and attacked to the extent she loses her tongue and hands, uses a stick to write the names of her attackers in the sand and bring them to justice.
The level of silence and shame surrounding rape in the Congo is extraordinarily difficult to comprehend, Bomberger said.
"Even if you lose your voice, someone else will be able to speak for you," Scherer said.
The performances will take place April 11 and 12 in the McDowell Formal Lounge. Tickets are $5, and all proceeds will benefit African Harvest, a mission organization that builds medical clinics in the Congo that are free and open to the public.
Scherer said that "If Thy Tongue Can Speak" is about being able to speak despite the violence. There's passion in the way the cast and leadership of the show speak about the need to raise awareness.
Recently hearing a 12-year old Congolese girl talk about the sexual violence she experienced, Bomberger turned inward.
"She is being brave enough to tell her story," she said. "Why aren't we brave enough to tell her story"
