TOUR READY SHOWS

The Man Who Committed Thought

The Man Who Com­mit­ted Thought is cur­rently tak­ing book­ings for an inter­na­tional tour 2012. For dates, please see our cal­en­dar. To down­load an infor­ma­tion pack for venues, please click here.

Edin­burgh Fringe Fes­ti­val First Award Win­ner

What do Shake­speare, the Bible, and a cow have in common?

The Man Who Com­mit­ted Thought is a highly phys­i­cal and lit­er­ate solo show by Patrice Naiambana. In post­colo­nial Lion Moun­tain, a deter­mined peas­ant seeks jus­tice after hav­ing his cow eaten by the dic­ta­tor of the land, Pres­i­dent Janta. An ini­tially indif­fer­ent Angli­cised African lawyer, much given to quot­ing Shake­speare and the West­ern Canon, is forced to com­mit thought about his own per­sonal respon­si­bil­ity for the state of his coun­try. Patrice’s darkly humor­ous, elec­tric per­for­mance style draws upon the story-telling tra­di­tion of the West African Griot.

The Man Who Com­mit­ted Thought was cre­ated in order to shed light on Africans who are liv­ing, think­ing and adapt­ing to trau­matic times and con­tem­po­rary issues. It is an attempt to com­bat the racism and stereo­typ­ing that inevitably comes from repeated neg­a­tive images and sto­ries of a peo­ple, and to express the valu­able lessons that Africa’s sto­ries can give to the rest of the world. The play is a trib­ute to all those who sur­vive war and hor­ror and still con­tinue to think, laugh and play.

PRESS QUOTES

“This is pas­sion­ate the­atre, bril­liantly per­formed, about mat­ters of mas­sive import… Packs more power into its 80 min­utes than most would-be writ­ers man­age in a life­time… You are left gasp­ing for breath.”
The Scotsman

“…A mov­ing play…It illus­trates the con­flict between human­i­tar­i­an­ism and human­ism, and shows that right and wrong are not nec­es­sar­ily black and white, but rather, they are painted in shades of grey.” Kubatana.net

“Bril­liantly, hon­estly, fear­lessly chal­leng­ing the sta­tus quo.“
Three Weeks

“[Naiambana] has charisma to burn, and the phys­i­cal pres­ence to back up that charm.”
The Stage

RECENT PAST PERFORMANCES

2011

Espres­so­bar Ko D’oooooooor, The Nether­lands
In con­nec­tion with the sem­i­nar ‘Colo­nial­ity, Slav­ery and the Holo­caust: Intro­duc­ing the Decolo­nial Option’ at Roo­sevelt Acad­emy, Middelburg

Pen­te­cost Fes­ti­val, United Kingdom

Rock Paper Sis­tahz Fes­ti­val, Canada

Harare Inter­na­tional Fes­ti­val of Arts, Zim­babwe
Sup­ported by the British Council

Roo­sevelt Acad­emy, The Netherlands

2010

Théâtre L’Arrière-Scène, Belgium

Int­wasa Fes­ti­val, Zim­babwe
Sup­ported by the British Council

Harare Inter­na­tional Fes­ti­val of Arts, Zim­babwe
Sup­ported by the British Council

Chris­t­ian Sol­i­dar­ity World­wide, Hong Kong

2007

The CAPITAL Cen­tre, United Kingdom

Soho The­atre, United Kingdom

CONCEPT, WRITING & PERFORMANCE: Patrice Naiambana
DURATION: 80–90 min­utes
STYLE: The­atre, sto­ry­telling
SCALE: Small, easy to transport