Molly Street: a story that breaks boundaries

Monica Cheru
Theatre writer and director Peter Churu was listening to the radio when his artistic antennae twitched.

There was a live debate which aroused strong polarized emotions in the listeners who called in. Chiredzi city authorities had done something totally unexpected: They named a road after a commercial worker. “Molly Street is now on the map of Chiredzi.

Predictably the moral police was outraged at what they perceived as a celebration of a woman of iniquity. On the other side were those who felt that Molly and her colleagues cannot be erased from history and no one is qualified to cast the first stone of judgement.

Peter Churu was intrigued. This was a story that broke boundaries and just begging to be dramatized. He got in touch with the relevant people and travelled to Chiredzi.

“I thought to my knowledge this is the first time that a whole municipal authority in Zimbabwe done this, celebrating a sex worker by naming a street after her,” says Churu. He was pushed to find out just what set Molly apart, why her and not any other of her colleagues?

A lot of work and planning later, Churu and his team are at an advanced stage to bring the play Molly Street to the people of Zimbabwe and the world. He expects the same moral censure that the municipal authorities faced, but that is not stopping him from telling the story.

“I expect a backlash. I have already had people, some of them from Chiredzi expressing their displeasure. They asked how I dare talk about a woman who sold herself.” But Churu says that is a myopic view that he hopes will be dispelled in those who elect to watch the play then judge Molly.

“There is a bigger picture. We cannot shy away from facing facts in history and society. This is a story that cuts across all -isms. This is a story that explores the history of colonization and the establishment of new settlements as well as the cultural evolution that took place concurrently,” says Churu.

Project choreographer Soukaina Marie-Laure Edom says that Molly Street is not going to be a socially offensive raunchy offering. “This is not going to be a vulgar show. It is a story of prostitution, exploitation of women, domestic gender based violence, forced and early marriage.

Soukaina says the success of the one actor production will rely solely on the talents of the visual artist who lands the role. Casting is in progress with rehearsals expected to start as soon as the artists is identified.

“The role demands a woman who is comfortable in her own skin and body. The rendition must be realistic,” she said. Soukaina says the artist must be able to handle the scenes of intimacy and violence.

Molly Street is expected to make waves on the local theatre scene which has been muted over the past few years. Churu says there are multiple reasons why theatre is not a mainstream leisure in the country.

“I think in all honesty theatre has always been something targeted at a limited audience. Going back to Shakespeare’s time, his plays were performed at kings’ courts and not in the village square.

“But in Zimbabwe we also have an issue of space which has pushed theatre away from the people. Community halls where people used to congregate and consume arts are no longer available. And religion has taken over. I am not judging, just stating a fact. As a society our lives are full of potholes and religion is the lowest hanging fruit in terms of attaining solace,” Churu says.

He also believes that donor funding has been a double edged sword which has proven detrimental to creative development. “It is difficult when people with their own agenda, be it political or social, hold the purse strings. What they are looking for is just the pushing of their message.

“As a result you have productions were all the rules of quality are ignored. The political protest genre currently has people putting money into it. Anyone who proposes a production that carries the right message will probably get support.” But Churu says that messages and creative excellence are not mutually exclusive. The funders just need to set the bar high and allow the creatives to do their thing.

“Take for example the HIV story. There are superb productions across all art genres from across the world. They push the message but do not compromise on the benchmarks of quality and aesthetics that make a creative work great.”

The onus is on the local creatives to define their own space and take responsibility for their production quality, Churu argues. It is only by going to the funding negotiation table with their own set of expectations that local producers can be true to their art.

“Resources are always a challenge. But we need to rise above the hunger, bread and butter, daily survival kind of mentality. We should be able to claim pride in our own work. We have great issue based stories within us. We can produce good HIV, GBV and political plays that can stand on their artistic merit,” Churu says.

Arts in general including theatre have been viewed as an option of last resort, a haven for failures from other spheres, and this has contributed to the stigmatization of the sector and the corresponding number of poor quality productions, in Churu’s view.

“Some people are not driven, but just drift into the arts because they failed to make a mark in any other fields. This is perceived as an easy field that anyone can get into. But in reality one has to knuckle down and sweat to make it work.”

Churu is a veteran of theatre production having released his first professional play in 1986. He worked on other plays before leaving the country. During his stint overseas he indulged his creative side in watching Westend shows often. He returned to the country in 2007 and created Complete Arts Project, which is producing Molly Street.

He says that he is happy to see that theatre in Zimbabwe seems to be on the rebound with a number of players to watch. “Gertrude Munhamo is definitely doing wonders. Her play Lamentations has marked the return of Zim theatre to the Edinburgh Festival after a hiatus of a few years. “Writer and actor Patrick Muller is also another rising star. He just needs to believe in his work and his talent.

“In Bulawayo we have Thabani. He is prolific and exceptional. I have seen just a few of his plays and I am impressed. There are many others.”