The Deacon's Bench
They had me at The Angelus.
When the lights go up on the stunning production of Katori Hall’s new play “Our Lady of Kibeho” at New York’s Signature Theatre, the first sound you hear is singing. Young women at Rwanda’s Kibeho College are singing The Angelus like, well, angels. It’s a beautiful and idyllic beginning to a work of theater that will soon become by turns haunting, mysterious, stirring and chilling. The idyll won’t last; blood will be shed. A massacre—the Rwandan slaughter— is looming on the horizon. But for a few fleeting moments, we get a glimpse of grace. It’s so pure and simple, it’s almost a shock.
It’s the first of many shocks in a play that unfolds like a conventional religious melodrama—a distant cousin, maybe, of “Agnes of God,” and a descendent of “Song of Bernadette” — but resonates with contemporary themes of belief, hope, exploitation and fear. Based on the true events surrounding the apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Rwanda in the 1980’s—the only apparitions on the continent of Africa to ever receive official Vatican approval—”Our Lady of Kibeho” has been hailed by critics as one of the best new plays in New York this season. The New York Times called it “transfixing” and The Wall Street Journal labeled it “the most important new play of the year.”
I might go further than that. I’d call it a miracle.
To put it plainly: you just don’t see religion depicted like this very often. At a time when religious beliefs are usually a cause for skepticism or ridicule in popular culture, “Our Lady of Kibeho” stands defiantly, uncompromisingly on the side of faith. It wants you to believe. That is miraculous enough. But it also treats that belief with respect and even reverence. In the village of Kibeho, and in this play, humble piety is a common fact of life. People go to Mass, pray, sing. It’s just what they do. (During intermission, I posted a comment on Facebook: “I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen so many rosaries on stage!”) Director Michael Greif is probably best known as the man who shepherded “Rent” to Broadway. But this piece is altogether different. It’s tinged with wonder before the unknown. While giving the reported visions in Kibeho a healthy dose of skepticism, the play never teeters into cynicism, and the large and sensationally gifted cast delivers every moment with sincerity and fervor. More than a few times, the actors had tears streaming down their cheeks. So, for that matter, did I.
You never know how God will work. Jaded New Yorkers who might have sneered at the idea of Marian apparitions sat in rapt silence and rose to their feet for a standing ovation at the curtain call—a common occurrence for something like “Phantom of the Opera,” but far rarer for small off-Broadway houses. In the lobby after the show, a 60-something guy in jeans and sweatshirt stopped one of the staff members and announced, without fanfare: “I just want to say this is the best play I’ve ever seen. Ever. Really.”
Outside the theater, the lobby had a wall devoted to telling the background of the story; it was plastered with pictures and facts about Rwanda, the apparitions, and even other Marian visions, including Lourdes and Medjugorje.
Before the play, three or four curious people were standing there, reading it.
After, there were at least 20.
Yep. You never know how God will work.
There are nits I could pick—the priest in the confessional scene should have been wearing a stole, and a couple of times he spoke of testing the visionaries on “liturgy” when I think he meant “theology.” But those are forgivable sins in a work that gets so much else just right, and that stirs the heart in surprising ways. Katori Hall, take a bow.
I really hope “Our Lady of Kibeho” gains a wider audience. Its New York run is ending this week, but I suspect we will be seeing it in other places. It’s just that good.
And it’s just that important—and timely. At a moment when the headlines are screaming about senseless atrocities around the world, we need the prophetic witness of Our Lady of Kibeho, who offered a tender message of love to a world facing what a priest in the play calls “precession”—a tilting of the earth’s axis that throws everything off balance. The world needs to regain its balance, to believe in the unbelievable, to trust in God’s boundless mercy—and from that simple faith gain hope.
As Pope Francis said earlier this year:
“I sincerely hope that the Shrine of Kibeho might radiate even more the love of Mary for her children, especially the poorest and most injured, and be for the Church in Rwanda, and beyond, a call to turn with confidence to Our Lady of Sorrows, who accompanies each of us on our way that we might receive the gift of reconciliation and peace…Forgiveness of sins and genuine reconciliation, which may seem impossible to human sight after such suffering, are however a gift of Christ that it is possible to receive, though a life of faith and prayer, even if the road is long and requires patience, dialogue, and mutual respect.”
Our Lady of Kibeho, pray for us!
To get a brief glimpse at what I saw Wednesday night, check out the video below.
Finally, a grateful diaconal bow to Amy Bowllan, a parishioner who stopped me after Mass Sunday, thrust a postcard for the show in my hand and said, “You’ve got to see this!” Amy has had a devotion to Our Lady of Kibeho for years and has worked tirelessly to bring the story of this apparition to more people. If not for her, I wouldn’t have known about it — and I hope and pray that, as a result, many more will learn about not only this play but also the woman who gives it its title.
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