Daily Campus

Issue date: 9/11/07 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: John Schreiber "Truth in Translation" played through the weekend at SMU's Bob Hope Theatre and will travel to four other U.S. cities as the production tours the country. [Click to enlarge]

In an attempt to pick up the pieces after the cruel human rights violations of the apartheid era, the South African government formed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

Michael Lessac's "Truth in Translations" portrays the TRC interpreters who translated the stories of both the victims and the perpetrators of that time.

The production made its U.S. debut last week on campus at the Bob Hope Theatre.

The play is based on the ideas of forgiveness and reconciliation, and it becomes evident even before you step into the theater.

The Forgiveness Project, an organization based on the same theme, presents stories directly outside of the theater of individuals that survived human rights violations and found it in themselves to forgive.

Mahatma Gandhi's quote stands prominent, "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind."

Meant for the translators, the opening words also inform the audience: "Matters of the heart have no place here. You are just a witness. Do not become involved."

The powerful script, which uses actual testimonies of the TRC hearings, leaves us with haunting images of the era: "Forty-three wounds on his body. Acid in his face. Chopped off his right hand. Then he was blown up. His pieces were splattered all over the floor. His pieces were splattered all over the wall. His pieces were splattered all over the ceiling."

The cast was actually part of the script-writing process and it shows. After traveling to many other countries with this play, they each still seem obviously passionate about telling this story.

Though the stories of the crimes are important to this play, the interpreters' lives play center stage.

Continued...

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