Solo act finds personal edge to political conflict

From Maripat Donovan and Vicki Quade’s “Late Night
Catechism” to David Gorman’s “Googlewhack!”
the challenges of a one-man show ““ namely, attempting to hold
the audience’s attention through the duration of the
performance ““ can be intimidating.

Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine understands these difficulties all too
well, as he is currently performing his solo piece
“Biro” at UCLA Live through Oct. 30.

The decision to make the play a solo piece rather than an
ensemble was an easy one for Mwine because other characters would
have diluted the central character’s voice, he said.

But the decision attracted notice from the international theater
community.

“International theater has a minimum of 20 actors (in a
typical play), so they’re really surprised to see a solo
piece,” Mwine said. “(“˜Biro’) was unique
““ they hadn’t seen a similar piece before. For the
audience, it was the first time they were seeing these issues put
on the stage.”

“Biro” tackles tough subjects, including HIV/AIDS,
war and illegal immigration.

The play traces one man’s journey from the Ugandan
insurgency of 1979, to his HIV-positive diagnosis in a military
camp in Cuba, to his current plight ““ imprisonment in a Texas
jail cell.

Although Mwine based the character of Biro on an anonymous
relative, he discovered the play was more than the story of just
one man’s life ““ it mirrored the plight of hundreds of
Ugandans.

“When I set out to write the piece, I was really just
trying to write a compelling story. I had hoped it would resonate,
but I didn’t know how,” Mwine said.

And resonate it did. In 2002, when Mwine performed a reading of
the play in Las Vegas for some Ugandan émigrés, Mwine was
surprised to find an audience member who identified so well with
the story that he thought he knew the person on whom Biro’s
character was based.

The name the audience member gave was not Mwine’s
relative, but the incident caused him to realize his story was not
unique to his own family.

But it was the Ugandan’s personal story, set against the
backdrop of more complex issues in Uganda and Africa in general,
that eventually sold David Sefton, director of UCLA Live, on
including “Biro” in this season’s lineup.

The play is one of the rare performances Sefton did not see
before booking ““ after watching a BBC special about the show,
he knew he had to bring it to UCLA.

“It’s the combination of the true story of the
Ugandan army officer with HIV smuggling himself into the U.S. for
treatment … and the wider political point (the play) makes about
AIDS in Africa (that) make this such a compelling
performance,” Sefton said. “It’s a very personal
story told in a very likeable and interesting way.”

One of the major themes of Biro’s story is that of
hope.

The name “Biro” comes from the Runyankore word
“mwerinde ebiro,” which means, “beware of time
because it has the answers.”

While this etymology might appear slightly foreboding, Mwine
interprets it as a sign that circumstances may one day change for
the better.

“I really thought it captured the essence of the
character’s perspective (of) “˜one day I may be somebody
different,'” said Mwine. “For me, that was a
challenge to the audience. I might be in need of help right now,
but one day the tables may turn. Don’t just count on the
present.”

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