In Darfur

The Guthrie presents public play readings, discussions and an acclaimed photo exhibit on the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan from January 24 through January 28, 2007 on the Wurtele Thrust Stage.

The series, which will be headlined by readings of In Darfur, a new play by Winter Miller, directed by Joanna Settle, will include post-play discussions featuring journalists, advocates and experts on the crisis, and a digitally projected photo exhibit by internationally acclaimed photojournalists titled DARFUR/DARFUR. Admission to the post-play discussions and photo exhibit is free.

In Darfur was co-commissioned by the Guthrie and The Playwrights’ Center as part of the Two-Headed Challenge in 2005-06. The Two-Headed Challenge offers commission and development funds to a playwright to write a play in association with the most interesting person the playwright knows outside the world of theater. Through this program, Miller – who is both a playwright and New York Times researcher – collaborated with Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof to write a searing story of urgency and international significance.

Hawa lives in a refugee camp, her entire family is murdered before her eyes by the Sudanese government death squads. Carlos has abruptly abandoned his fiancée to be an aid worker in Darfur. New York Times reporter Marika is looking for the perfect page one story to sear the face of genocide onto a nation’s conscience. There is a line between telling the story and becoming the story. There is a line between saving a life and breaking a code of ethics. There are secrets that must not be revealed. Decades after the horrors of Rwanda, genocide continues day after day in Darfur. When we say never again, what we really mean is once again.