How does one build a house? What is it like living in this house? Where is it safer – inside or outside? What is it like to leave the house? What if, when you come back later, it is no longer standing – or its suddenly inhabited by other people? These are the questions that dominated ‘Our House’, a play about homes and what happens when the owners are forced to leave.

It might sound easy to come up with the one hour play, but it took the team three years to prepare ‘Our House’

The play, featuring two Rwandan artists and three Germans, was an idea that was born three years ago when Carole Karemera of Ishyo Arts met with Barbara Kölling, director of Helios Theatre at a festival in Italy.

According to Didacienne Nibagwire, the Ishyo Project and Production manager, the German team came to Rwanda last year to do research so as to be able to first understand the country’s culture and the people, to be able to co-produce the play.

"And, in January this year the Rwandan team went to Germany to do their own research, and the third phase was conducted in March when we did the second part of the production and in September, the whole team met in Germany and completed the production and did a premiere in Germany and later on scheduled for the performance in Rwanda which took place this week,” she said.

The play that was mainly in English with some texts in German, Russian, French and Kinyarwanda targeting young people, the main focus of the two theatres.  

In Rwanda, the play was premiered, on Thursday, at SOS-Kigali as well as University of Rwanda’s College of Arts and Social Sciences in Huye on Friday for students studying Arts. It was also screen at the Kigali Public Library on Sunday

"Helios Theatre focuses on children and youth and so does Ishyo Arts Centre. We had a debate about the play and about the technical part because we want to encourage young people to practice art. We believe that it is not only about the play and the educational content therein, but also about how it can be done,” Nibagwire said.

Michael Lurse, the maker of Helios Theatre, acknowledged the Rwandan love for theatre and the arts.

"This was a very good experience for us and I was happy to find that the people here are very open, and are interested in theatre, especially the students,” he said.

‘The House’ was first premiered in Germany September 17 – at the Helios theatre in the German language.