adminignored.
This results in a situation where crucial developments in theatre industry are not built up in our endeavour to grow a viable theatre industry.
This may be due to the fact that innovative aspects of a theatre production while attracting the critical attention of the audiences, theatre critics, and theatre practitioners may need to analysed and highlighted to encourage their recognition as essential development in our theatre culture.
Last month, Harare audience that packed Theatre in the Park to watch Rooftop Promotions Production of Patrick Chisaya’s “Sinners” featured Eunice Tava, Charity Dlodlo and Getrude Munhamo may have not realised how unique and innovative that theatre product was.
It is not an understatement to say that packed itself into that small theatre like sardines on the night of the world premier of “Sinners” was to a great extent stunned by what they saw and what they heard.
This was evidenced by the fact the usually vociferous post-performance discussion was replaced a rare silence that was only broken by two comments about the performance.
Compared to many plays that have been performed at Theatre in the Park before, there seemed to be so much to talk about the play in terms of the content.
The execution of the production and the significance of the play that the muteness of the audience could only indicate that something happened that either fulfilled all the expectations of the audience or managed to mangle and numb the often racing minds of the opening night audience that is usually dominated by the over-critical and self-opinionated theatre practitioners.
The Press reviews of “Sinners” seemed to be equally coloured by the language of stunned theatre critics, some of whom chose to imply that the performance of “Sinners” was dominantly distinguished by its very explicitness.
Yes, indeed, if explicit theatre is theatre that is “clear and detailed, with no room for confusion or doubt” as defined by the Concise Oxford Dictionary, then it explains why the audience at the opening night was stunned to silence by what they saw and heard.
One theatre critic told me, a day after the world premier of “Sinners” that he was overawed by the raunchiness of the play.
He said in his life he never felt “over-sexed” by a live theatre presentation as he did when watching the three beautiful women who acted as if they there were no audience at all. This he said was a unique theatre experience.
A theatre buff who did not mince his words about “Sinners” said that age limitation advice on the performance was not an adequate preparation or warning for what he saw and that had he been made aware of the fact the play would be dominated by very strong sexuality, he would not have brought to the theatre the individual that accompanied him.
He, however, stressed that that watching “Sinners” was a very enjoyable theatre experience, nevertheless.
He also indicated that Press previews of such innovative theatre would go a long way in preparing audiences for the new encounter.
There was this person who had come to Theatre in the Park for the first, who said that he would for a long time not forget how for the first time in his life he had participated in an artistic performance that embraced him as part of the dynamic creation that made it impossible for one to distance himself from the invocation solicited by the invisible boundary between the actors on the stage and the audience.
He added that he was overwhelmed by the joy of participating in the creation of the play at its performance.
There are many aspects of the performance of “Sinners” that could be cited in the process of highlighting the innovativeness of the theatre production and its contribution to the development of Zimbabwean theatre.
Firstly, Patrick Chisaya who is a new entrant into the Zimbabwean theatre industry and a recent graduate of Midlands State University wrote “Sinners”.
Chisaya not only dealt with a subject our communities had been gossiping about passionately, he also dealt with what the press paddled with overt euphoria without the audacity to investigate fully and to elucidate what was happening.
A gang of women raping a man is the type of “man bites a dog” story the Press considers real news.
This same story is, however, something that most theatre artistes consider too hot handle. Therefore, Chisaya was a brave young writer with the determination to step where other writers would avoid.
It can therefore be said that the world premiere of “Sinners” was an innovative launch pad of a playwright who is going places and whose potential to contribution to Zimbabwean theatre is enormous.
Secondly, it was not easy to imagine before the performance of “Sinners’ of Zimbabwean women theatre artistes who are married but having the guts to portray women raping men and to perform this act to an audience that included their husbands, friends and even in-laws. Eunice Tava, Charity Dlodlo and Getrude Munhamo exhibited the type of commitment to the art of theatre and the maturity that speaks volumes of the high quality of professionalism and competence of Zimbabwean theatre practitioners.
This something that should be celebrated and highlighted as valuable theatre practice.
Thirdly, to act “Sinners” in a theatre environment that is so culturally sensitive that heterosexual kissing on lips on the stage is treated as an X-rated act, telling a story about rape on our theatre stage requires the bravery that is not easily found in Zimbabwean theatre practice.
In fact, it seems that it is easier in Zimbabwe to find actions of extreme bravery when dealing with political issues on stage rather dealing with socio-cultural issues such as sexual harassment, abuse and exploitation. Tava, Dlodlo and Getrude Munhamo and their director, Daves Guzha must have challenged all playwrights to graduate to that level where playwrights do not excessively self-censor themselves that actors and directors are not challenged in their creation of theatre performances from their scripts.
Whenever I listen to Matilda Karidzamimba’s Sunday morning programme on Radio Zimbabwe about very strange happenings in our society as well as listening to the ever-green “Chakafukidza Dzimba Matenga” which deals with deals dominantly with marriage relationships and sexuality, on the same radio station.
I am convinced that radio journalists in Shona and Ndebele are so able to handle sexual issues explicitly without stepping on culturally sensitive toes of the nation.
It is possible to be correct by stating that playwrights and actors in Zimbabwe are yet to acquire this skill.
Tava, Dlodlo and Munhamo clearly demonstrated in “Sinners” that this skill can be easily acquired by those wholly commitment to theatre of theatre , in order to effectively deal with the most sensitive but critical social cultural issues especially those dealing with issues of sexuality.
Online Reporter