THE GOOD MINISTER FROM HARARE

by June Carryl

A small-time district administrator is visited by his father asking him to right a wrong done to their village thirty years before. The minister refuses, but that evening receives a visit from a farmer from the village begging him to find his son who’s been arrested for speaking against the government.
What starts as a comic inquiry at the Ministry of Justice quickly devolves into a nightmare as the minister...

A small-time district administrator is visited by his father asking him to right a wrong done to their village thirty years before. The minister refuses, but that evening receives a visit from a farmer from the village begging him to find his son who’s been arrested for speaking against the government.
What starts as a comic inquiry at the Ministry of Justice quickly devolves into a nightmare as the minister is followed by mysterious thugs, kidnapped, and pressed to masquerade as a revolutionary for the opposition when the rebel leader is killed.
Hounded on all sides through an increasingly sinister seven circles of hell as he pieces together his own memory of what happened thirty years ago, the minister ponders his dilemma: whether to turn a blind eye to injustice and live, or become a martyr in the bloody business of liberation.
The human toll of Robert Mugabe’s massacre of at least 20,000 Ndebele in Zimbabwe thirty years ago, called the Gukurahundi, is silent suffering and scarred memory. Forgetfulness and silence are the enemies of justice. A play can give suffering a name and that to me is the beginning of change.

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THE GOOD MINISTER FROM HARARE

Recommended by

  • Daniel Olivas: THE GOOD MINISTER FROM HARARE by June Carryl
    “

    I watched a virtual table reading of this riveting, potent play by June Carryl as part of the Playwrights' Arena's Summer Reading Series 2020. With sardonic humor and vivid characters, Carryl brings nuance and light to the horrors of genocide. I wait in great anticipation to see a fully realized production for the stage.

    I watched a virtual table reading of this riveting, potent play by June Carryl as part of the Playwrights' Arena's Summer Reading Series 2020. With sardonic humor and vivid characters, Carryl brings nuance and light to the horrors of genocide. I wait in great anticipation to see a fully realized production for the stage.

    ”
  • Bianca Bagatourian: THE GOOD MINISTER FROM HARARE by June Carryl
    “

    The winner of our $10,000 Saroyan/Paul 2016 Human Rights Award, The Good Minister From Harare, brings to light another forgotten genocide, The Gukurahundi in Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe. 30 years later, this story of the horrors of a genocide the press did little about is captured by June Carryl with authenticity and a deft touch. Her characters are vivid and layered and extremely engaging as she weaves the complex story of one man's descent into the harrowing hell of memory and atrocity. A powerful saga of a country and a man.

    The winner of our $10,000 Saroyan/Paul 2016 Human Rights Award, The Good Minister From Harare, brings to light another forgotten genocide, The Gukurahundi in Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe. 30 years later, this story of the horrors of a genocide the press did little about is captured by June Carryl with authenticity and a deft touch. Her characters are vivid and layered and extremely engaging as she weaves the complex story of one man's descent into the harrowing hell of memory and atrocity. A powerful saga of a country and a man.

    ”
  • Stephanie Alison Walker: THE GOOD MINISTER FROM HARARE by June Carryl
    “

    This is a beautiful and important play. I was immediately drawn in by the characters and premise and as it went on, my heart got pulled in more and more until it broke at the end. Carryl has a gift for blending the naturalistic and the theatrical. I appreciated the depth the moments of magical realism add to the play and would love to see it fully-realized in a production.

    This is a beautiful and important play. I was immediately drawn in by the characters and premise and as it went on, my heart got pulled in more and more until it broke at the end. Carryl has a gift for blending the naturalistic and the theatrical. I appreciated the depth the moments of magical realism add to the play and would love to see it fully-realized in a production.

    ”

Development History

  • Reading, Playwrights Arena Summer Series, 2020
  • Reading, Vibrant 2017 - A Festival of Finborough Playwrights, 2017

Awards

  • Saroyan/Paul Human Rights Playwriting Prize
    Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance
    Winner
    2017