Far Gone (NHB Modern Plays)

By John Rwothomack

When Okumu's village in Northern Uganda is attacked by a guerrilla rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony, he and his brother find that their lives are changed forever.
Far Gone is a profoundly moving play for one actor which tells the story of a young boy's journey from childhood innocence to child soldier, seen through the eyes of those that love him – and those that betray him.
Inspired by John Rwothomack's own real-life experience of nearly being kidnapped by the LRA, the play was co-produced by Roots Mbili Theatre and Sheffield Theatres, with support from Theatre Deli, Sheffield. It premiered at the Crucible Studio, Sheffield, in 2022, directed by Mojisola Elufowoju.
'This play is not about me, the kid who was lucky enough to escape. This play is for the hundreds of thousands who did not. For the parents whose children were either lost forever or forever changed. For the young girls who were forced to marry men old enough to be their fathers. For the brothers, sisters, cousins, nieces, nephews, sons and daughters who lost the innocence of childhood, simply for being born at an unfortunate time in an unfortunate place. For the future generations who will continue to suffer the trauma the LRA has imprinted on them, for many years to come.' John Rwothomack

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Release date: Feb 24, 2022
• ISBN: 9781788505338

John Rwothomack

John Rwothomack is a Ugandan-born, UK-based actor, writer and theatre director. He trained as an actor at Rose Bruford College of Performing Arts, London. His plays include Far Gone (Kampala International Theatre Festival, 2019; Sheffield Theatres, 2022).

Book preview

John Rwothomack

FAR GONE

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Original Production Details

Joseph Kony and the LRA

A Word or Two from the Writer

Epigraph

Characters

Far Gone

About the Author

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

Far Gone was first produced as a co-production between Roots Mbili Theatre & Sheffield Theatres at The Crucible Theatre, with support from Theatre Deli Sheffield, 2022.

Joseph Kony and the LRA

The mid-to-late 1980s was a time of political turmoil in Uganda, particularly in the sub-region of Acholiland in the north, near the border with Sudan. Following the removal from power of Idi Amin in 1979, the country’s first free and full elections took place in late 1980 and saw former leader Milton Obote (the man Amin seized power from) become President for the second time. His election was contentious, however, with widespread accusations of vote-rigging and voter suppression, and various rebel groups remained at large who did not recognise his Presidency, including the National Resistance Army headed by Yoweri Museveni.

As the second Obote regime took power, Museveni and his NRA continued to wage a rebel bush war, scattering into rural areas and proving difficult to fight against effectively. Despite this, Obote remained President until mid-1985, when the army Commander Tito Okello, frustrated at what he felt was a tribal bias from Obote, seized power through another military coup. Okello immediately sought to engage in peace talks with rebel groups, including Museveni and his NRA, who even signed final treaties with him in late 1985. However, while these talks were ongoing, Museveni had been secretly plotting an assault on Kampala, which he enacted in early 1986, overthrowing Okello and finally