KLII exorcises the ghost of King Leopold II through a mytho-biographical performance that draws on archival footage from Belgian filmmake André Cauvin's documentary Bwana Kitoko, mixing colonial aesthetics with traditional East African design to create a heightened visual persona. Building on Mark Twain's King Leopold's Soliloquy published in 1905, a fictional monologue written after Twain's visit to the Congo Free State and Patrice Lumumba's 1960 independence speech in Congo, KLII considers the residue of colonialism in our everyday lives. Working with East African musicians and African-American opera singers, the sound design investigates La Muette de Portici, the opera that ignited Belgium's 1830 revolution. KLII explores the nature of evil and the simultaneous looking inward and outward required to unroot legacies of catastrophic events.
Creator & Co-Director, Kaneza Schaal
Production Designer & Co-Director, Christopher Myers
Technical Director, Cheyanne Williams
Sound Designer, Camila Ortiz + Ian Andrew Askew
Dance Consultant, Jonathan Kubakundimana
Recorded Vocals, Kenita Miller, Ian Andrew Askew
Design Associate, James Gibbel
Managing Director, Chelsea Goding-Doty
Performers, Kaneza Schaal, Ian Andrew Askew, Sifiso Mabena, Cheyanne Williams
Original Light Designer, Lucrecia Briceno, Asst. Emmanuel Delgado
Production Designer & Co-Director, Christopher Myers
Technical Director, Cheyanne Williams
Sound Designer, Camila Ortiz + Ian Andrew Askew
Dance Consultant, Jonathan Kubakundimana
Recorded Vocals, Kenita Miller, Ian Andrew Askew
Design Associate, James Gibbel
Managing Director, Chelsea Goding-Doty
Performers, Kaneza Schaal, Ian Andrew Askew, Sifiso Mabena, Cheyanne Williams
Original Light Designer, Lucrecia Briceno, Asst. Emmanuel Delgado
Photography by Maria Baranova
