Powerful and enlightening play, sensitively exploring themes of genocide, immigration, and cultural identity through a raw and dynamic mother-daughter relationship, supported by a talented cast and infused with dark humor
I am Leah, written by Jo Ingabire Moys and Jessica Hagan, follows the journey of Leah discovering her roots of Rwanda. This play makes references to the genocide in Rwanda and how it affected the country and the people. This play is a beautiful hommage to Rwanda, all the people and the survivors of the genocide. ‘I am Leah’ is a fictional narrative that contains elements of dark humour. This story is all at once heartbreaking, heartwarming and very enlightening. The audience are able to go on a journey with Leah also discovering harsh truths of Rwandan history.
‘I am Leah’ touches on a great amount of themes; Genocide, politics, immigration, Britain, London and culture. I like how this play also highlights the differences between two generations through a mother and daughter relationship. I feel a lot of people in the audience could relate to this one. The relationship between the mother and daughter was so raw and real to watch. The dynamic between the two actors was great. They had some very light hearted and some very intense scenes together and watching the relationship grow throughout the play was lovely. It felt very accurate to a mother daughter relationship.
Nahel Tzegai, who plays Leah, was great to watch. Her journey from the beginning of the play to end was lovely to watch. It was amazing to see her character grow scene after scene. Tzegai portrayal of Leah was very well done. Leah went through a range of emotions, trials and tribulations and this was handled and portrayed beautifully.
Michelle Asante, who plays Leah’s mothers, is a strong, powerful performer. Her comedic timing was on point, she had the audience in fits of laughter.
Sara Mokonen, who played Amina – Leah’s best friend and also a survivor from Rwanda, did an absolutely amazing job. Mokonen portrayed two completely different characters and each one was believable. Mokonen’s accent work was also great too.
Alex Akindeji also had such a strong presence on stage. His bold energy really added impact to the play.
All the actors in this play really brought the imagery to life. Their bold presence filled the space. They each bought such new and exciting energy every time they entered the stage. It was great to see a cohort of actors really own the space and unapologetically take up space.
This was such an educational and heartfelt play. It left me wanting to educate myself more on Rwanda and its history.