“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.” [These are the] opening lyrics fromTruth in Translation, which dramatizes the work of translators at South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Director Michael Lessac says his aim is to tell the story of an “evolutionary step for humanity,” a time when South Africa did “something that no other country in the world has ever done: forgave the past to survive the future.”—Time Magazine
Truth in Translation is a stage play conceived and directed by Michael Lessac, with music by Hugh Masekela. It tells the story of the interpreters at South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The play was written in a collaboration between the interpreters who worked at the TRC, writer Paavo Tom Tammi and the company of South African actors. It premiered in Rwanda, has toured South Africa and is touring to international conflict zones such as Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone, the Balkans, Jerusalem/Ramallah, Sri Lanka, Peru, and Indonesia/Timor to tell the story of the South African experience. The project includes workshops with audiences, exhibitions (The Forgiveness Project and Jillian Edelstein’s Truth and Lies) and filming of the interaction between audiences and the company, and attempts to provoke a global dialogue around notions of healing and reconciliation.