Witness Uganda at American Repertory Theatre

March 5, 2014

The musical, Witness Uganda, impressed me a lot and the most amazing thing that makes it unusual from other musicals is the plot is based on a true story of someone’s life. After seeing this musical, it leaves a person to think about people that live in Uganda and encouraged to help them, and furthermore describes the relationships between the people.

The main character of this story is Griffin Matthews, who after his experiences in Africa found his real destiny in his life; how he can be helpful and how to make the world better. The show itself was very well performed and the effects really made people to feel the atmosphere in Africa. The projected images at the back and the moving stage helped the audience to see better settings and follow the story. The decorations, additional attributes and the costumes were very accurately matched to the atmosphere to give the audience more information. Furthermore, the greatest things about this musical were the way actors performed and the songs they sang. They played traditional African music, which also connected perfectly to American audience. It looked like the actors on the stage didn’t play, but experienced this in real life. All the actors showed their emotions so strong and clear that you can say that they put a lot of effort to make this story look alive. They gave the feeling that this is what is happening right now and to forget that you are just in the theatre.

Another thing that made audience feel this way was the live music. It makes you feel more emotions and the atmosphere of the specific part during the show. The location of a band was behind the stage and the size of the concert hall allowed to listen it without any microphones or speakers. No fake sound, only real and clear music that made you enjoy the performance. I really loved the performance and it gave me a lot of positive emotions and encouraged me to help others. At the end of the show you can ask questions from the actors, which built the connection between people and the story itself and find a way where you can be useful and make this world a better place.