The Book
of LifeHope & Harmony from Rwandan Voices

★★★★ — The Guardian

In The Book of Life, Kiki Katese combines original music from Ingoma Nshya (Rwanda’s first ever women’s drumming group), an extraordinary collection of letters written by ordinary Rwandans, and a beautifully visualized animal fable to create a healing, joyous theatrical event that will resonate with you long after the curtain comes down. Join us for this remarkable show with its sights set on a more just and peaceful future.

The Book of Life began as a collection of letters from Rwandans who were asked to write about their lost relatives and loved ones with only one rule in mind: write about how they were alive, not how they died. When Kiki Katese reads these letters out loud on stage, something incredible happens and for a moment, undoing the undoable becomes a reality. The healing power of expression and creativity transforms trauma into peace and hope.

“We still have the possibility of undoing the [Rwandan] genocide in some small way,” Kiki Katese explains, “to bridge the hole that’s been left, not with bones or the clothes they wore when they died, but with their lives. The dinners. The lovers. The dates. The joy.” Join us for the beauty of life recaptured and lifted up in The Book of Life.