In I want Revenge, Grandma, Colleen Ndemeh Fitzgerald explores themes of ancestry and memory. Set around a large mound of sand, the performance brings together personal stories, colonial history and collective memory in a compelling theatrical landscape.
Through four key ideas — restitution, reparations, return and revenge — Fitzgerald explores how the colonial past continues to shape the present, asking: what follows centuries of colonial violence?
Although revenge forms an important point of departure, vengeance itself is not at the centre of the work. Instead, Fitzgerald explores how intergenerational trauma is passed down and how colonial legacies become embedded in bodies and relationships. The ‘grandma’ of the title appears as a figure connected to ancestry, memory and Fitzgerald’s Kpelle roots.
In the final scene, the space transforms into a place of collective release. During a shared dance around the mound of earth, space opens for a symbolic reunion of body, spirit and soil.
