When Swallows Cry Reflection

My study abroad experience has already contributed to my development as a person and as a scholar in many ways, from reevaluating the codes of conduct that restrict my world to contemplating the connections between geomorphology and student activism. After experiencing the performance of When Swallows Cry, I can add another development to that list: I think I finally get theater. Written by Mike van Graan and directed by Lesedi Job, When Swallows Cry introduced me to an entirely new sort of theater. Before it, my experience with live theater included only local production of The Wizard of Oz or Shrek. I have read more serious works, like Master Harold and the Boys and A Raisin in the Sun, but I never actually experienced a production of one.

One of my most persistent reservations about the story was the stereotypical depictions of the characters, especially the black characters. I think that our world is realizing more and more that representation is essential to the development and inspiration of marginalized people, in every way from extension of imagination to economic inclusion. When Swallows Cry did not contain any nuanced, complicated black characters that demonstrated a way out of structural oppressions beyond violence, death, or betrayal. Furthermore, the motivations of these violent and betrayed characters were not illustrated in detail, and seemed to rely on stereotypical assumptions. However, I think that this perception does not account for the entire picture. The interweaving of the three plays was an intentional choice with many consequences. One of those consequences is that the audience views each actor’s three characters as related, as I discussed earlier. While the motivations of the Commandant within his own story line may seem shallow and unjustified, when the character of Charles and the Australian border agent are viewed as part of the same being, and when the Commandant is also an innocent man just trying to legally enter the United States, I saw a much deeper and more complex structure of motivation, pain, and injustice. This exact dynamic plays out in a beautiful number of way, with each character