Play deplores wife beating

was a thing like that. A Load of Sorrow is a work that tries to portray the problem of wife beating, which is one of the worst forms of gender violence in our society.
In this play, Kyando, the main character, subjects his wife, Maria, to mental and physical abuse as a result of excessive drinking.
Their two sons, who stay in the city, medical doctor Eric and army officer Charles, hear that their father is causing their mother to live a miserable life. Their hearts ache for their mother’s suffering. They assess the situation and decide to go home and take control of the embarrassing predicament.
When they get home, Charles disregards African conventional behaviour by stooping to an unworthy action. Under cover of darkness, he sets up an ambush to trap his father as he returns from the beerhall. Unaware of the arrival of his son, Kyando approaches home shouting and swearing to beat Maria if she doesn’t come out of the house and carry him on her back.
The infuriated Charles pounces on Kyando, beating him severely. Pandemonium breaks out and the mission to reform Kyando’s disreputable side of life becomes a difficult task. 
There is nothing new about domestic violence because it has been commonplace in society for a long time. What children learn from what their parents are doing comes out when they are grown up and are married. That which they kept deep in their minds comes out without them aware of it.
In this drama, two brothers are proud that their parents sent them to school, but they are worried that their father has not reformed enough to stop beating their mother. Through dialogue, they reveal what they are and how they treat their wives. One of them took after their father and believes that he is doing the right thing to beat his wife.
He tries to justify why he is doing what his father has been doing from the time when he married. Though the son accepts that what his father is doing is wrong, he doesn’t see that he is in the same league with the old man.
You could be one of either of these two men. If that is the case ask yourself whether you are proud to be like the one in whom you see your own likeness. Through dialogue the sons reveal their characters, their apprehensions and their hopes. That is the purpose of dialogue. There is no need for the author to describe what his or her characters are like.
“The old man,” says Charles “doesn’t seem to see the errors of his ways. His morals have almost reached vanishing point. My son says he is still battering his grandmother.”
“What it means,” says Eric “is that the old man hasn’t taken notice of the counsel of the village elders. Their failure to pump some sense into his head to give up drinking and stop thrashing our mother is a clear indication that there is no trace of sanity in his behaviour.”
“The problem with you,” says Charles “is that you don’t keep your ear to the ground. He has too high an opinion of himself because of the money that we send him.”
“Not long ago,” says Eric, “he was held in high esteem by all people in our village. Now he has lost their respect because of his unbecoming behaviour.”
“Unfortunately,” says Charles, “he is becoming increasingly young at heart. Since his behaviour is now so bad, we’ve to do something to stop him.”
“Yes,” says Eric. “But what can that be? The best thing is to bring our mother here.”
“Since the old man can’t be convinced by reason,” says Charles, “our attempts have been futile. The only option that can bring him to his senses is a beating . . . Don’t worry, I don’t need anybody’s help. I’ll administer the punishment.”
“Have you thought carefully about this decision?” asks Eric. “I know you were decorated for bravery, but I don’t expect you to display it by teaching your father a military lesson. This is something unheard of.”
“Let me tell you one thing,” says Charles. “Bravery doesn’t come into it. I’ve made up my mind. Without some sort of force, the old man will continue to be a pain in the neck. Some people never understand from mere reasoning. They need physical punishment as a deterrent.”
“If you raise your hand to harm your parent,” says Eric, “you’ll bring great criticism on yourself and everybody will say what a villain you are. You’ll certainly be cursed.”
“I’ll ask my superiors,” said Charles, “for permission to go home tomorrow. You can be sure that I’ll not suffer as a result of such a curse.”
The attitude of Charles is what gender activists are up against. “By dramatising the problem of violence against women,” says Oppah Muchinguri, “this author is trying to reach out to every sector of society. We hope that this play will enlighten people on the negative impact of gender violence.”
George Chaula Panga was born on 12 June, 1954 in Tanzania. He holds an MA from the University of Westminster, UK. He was in the diplomatic service and has written other plays.