Child-army play ‘The First Stone’ combines the best of theatrical tradition with the worst of human obscenity

“How do we forgive?”

We’re asked that question quite a few times over the course of Donna-Michelle St. Bernard’s stunning new play, “The First Stone,” playing at Buddies in Bad Times and directed with simultaneous rigour and whimsy by an Yvette Nolan on her A-game.

And how can we forgive, when the crimes are so vile, the hurt so sprawling? “The First Stone” traces the genesis of child warfare in Uganda — the abductions, the killings, the unhappy homecomings — but ultimately persists forward with a beating heart of grace. Guided by a seemingly all-knowing Ancestor (a compelling Tsholo Khalema), we follow Boy and Girl (the sharp and wickedly talented duo of daniel jelani ellis and Makambe K. Simamba) through a day in the life of their childhood, complete with crushes on local schoolgirls and joyful dance lessons with Mom (a winning Dorothy A. Atabong).

But Boy and Girl’s world is haunted — by the absence of their father, away at war, and by the inescapable presence of Granddad (Michael-Lamont Lytle). Children have been going missing in the community lately, and it seems Granddad might be to blame.

As the play unravels, we learn the true extent of his power, the limits to what he might do — there aren’t many, it turns out — and we watch as the once-exuberant Boy and Girl inch closer and closer towards a violent, embittered adulthood, surrounded by an army of their peers. Girl in particular has much to endure: Granddad is a predator in no uncertain terms, and an early scene in which Girl asks her mother about how babies come into the world hovers cruelly over the events of the play.

We’re spared no brutality by St. Bernard and Nolan, who make a powerful team. Invoking the gory dramatic legacies of Edward Bond and Sarah Kane, we see Boy and Girl’s baby sister meet a horrible fate — and while she may only be a small cloth sack in Nolan’s staging, the effect is still viscerally potent. “The First Stone” also includes choral music and chant, and Nolan uses both to her advantage in suggesting atmosphere: the singing is often lighthearted and even cheery, whereas the chants are downright spooky. “Quick, quiet. Quick, quiet. Feet, don’t fail me” crops up as a hushed mantra twice in the play, percussive and foreboding.

Nolan’s direction is enhanced by Indrit Kasapi’s inspired choreography, where battle training and group dance are one and the same. When we glimpse Granddad’s army, desperate for reprieve but eager to please, we see a perfectly timed and impeccably synchronized ensemble of dancers, militantly precise and appropriately solemn. Nolan’s smartly done away with an extensive physical set and instead suggests locales and props through chalk drawings, which become more and more mangled as the play trudges on. Jackie Chau is the set and props designer.

“The First Stone” is a triumph, to be sure, and especially in this poetic, highly stylized treatment from Nolan. But some elements falter just a touch, in particular the play’s length. At 100 minutes with no intermission the production is a marathon, and the play seems in search of its ending in the final quarter.

When Boy and Girl do eventually reunite with their home community, the encounter is drawn out, seemingly past what’s needed to suggest the pain associated with Ugandan child soldiers reintegrating into their community. As well, some design choices, though gorgeous, are inconsistent, and I found myself sorely missing them when they disappeared. Projected ASL interpretation of Ancestor Echo’s monologues is lovely — but why is this accessibility measure not afforded to the whole performance?

The short film “Kony 2012” went viral in 2012 for its depiction of child slavery and warfare in Uganda, and drew criticism for what some perceived to be a neocolonial skew. For many, “Kony 2012” was a first exposure, however flawed, to the Lord’s Resistance Army and its power over northern Uganda. Ten years later, “The First Stone” sets the record straight — this is no trauma porn, and the play’s moments of genuine, searing joy balance the more difficult content. Yes, there is pain, yes, there is generational trauma — but there is also laughter. There’s hope.

And as the play so bravely asks us to consider, there’s forgiveness.

The First Stone

Written by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, directed by Yvette Nolan, a co-production of Great Canadian Theatre Company and New Harlem Productions, presented by Buddies In Bad Times. Until Oct. 16 at Buddies in Bad Times, 12 Alexander St. Tickets are available at buddiesinbadtimes.com or at the box office at (416) 975-8555.

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