Witness Uganda at American Repertory Theatre

An Unknown Journey

by Shae McDonald

March 7, 14

Five kids, who seem to have nothing, change one man’s life by teaching him that they have more than he thinks. Witness Uganda at American Repertory Theatre is an exciting and terrifying journey that makes you feel like you are on stage with them. This journey has a stronger ensemble than any ensemble that I have seen in the past. The vocals were chilling, every word sung was clear and breathtaking it was incredible. The piece as a whole was very moving, however the story by itself was not strong enough to carry the piece to greatness. The real heroes of the musical were the ensemble characters. What was most fascinating was the fact that Griffin did play himself in the musical, which changed my perspective completely. Although Griffin was not the strongest singer, he did portray himself better than I think anyone else could have.

The design of the musical was, the greatest part. They had created different scenes from a very little amount of props and lighting on the actual stage. Many times they didn’t have anything on the stage or one big prop or set piece. Another noteworthy part of the stage was the fact that it did move up and down. They didn’t use this feature as often as I would have liked, but when they did use it, it was very clever and well done. The costumes were a big factor in changing the whole mood of the piece. The traditional African costumes were used, but many of the characters wore ratted clothing, which was a very neat factor that they had added. The original New York clothing was very bland and it was interesting how the two contradicted so much.

Overall this piece is an upbeat and moving musical that allows you to be happy and dancing in your seat, than the next minute you are tearful as you get chills from the moving scenes. Witness Uganda is a happy and thought–provoking play that gets you to think about helping others.