Chronicle Editor
Godwin Muzari Arts Editor
Through an interwoven storyline Raisedon Baya’s play “The Taking”, which was staged at Theatre in the Park last week, explores the land issue in the country since colonisation.
A young man, Sixpence, tells the story of the land issue through a folk-tale, but his narration is sometimes misunderstood.
Sixpence uses imagery to equate Zimbabwe to a big river where water creatures lived happily until some big hippos from a foreign river invade the waters and push all the other animals to the shores.
Using physical theatre, the five-member cast takes the audience through a journey from the arrival of colonial settlers to the Third Chimurenga.
Sixpence refers to invaders as ‘albino hippos’ or ‘big mammals’ that have brought misery to the land, a clear reference to how the whites invaded Zimbabwe and pushed natives to barren lands.
The displaced creatures try to negotiate with albino hippos for bigger space in the river, but the big mammals laugh at the request and boldly state, “we are here to stay”.
In his tale Sixpence notes that “the albino hippos had run away from their river of origin for fear of freezing to death and on their way down the sea came across a good river, which they believed would be good for their ailing skins”.
It is an allusion to the story of most settlers, including Cecil John Rhodes, who relocated to Africa to seek refuge in a better climate because they had ailments that could be exacerbated by cold weather.
The folktale relates to First and Second Chimurenga when Sixpence tells of how other water creatures resorted to force and finally managed to drive the albino hippos out of the river.
However, Baya’s exciting style ensures that the play does not become a boring narration, monotonously punctuated by physical theatre. He weaves the narration with human-action scenes exploring various aspects of the First, Second and Third Chimurenga. Director of the play Memory Kumbota did a good job of smartly knitting the interweaving scenes without flaws.
“The Taking” brings out facts about the fight for land and exposes misconceptions about the land redistribution exercise.
Some scenes about the Third Chimurenga exaggerate the way war veterans invaded farms, painting pictures of furious violence. The scenes retell politically-twisted stories that were sold to the international community.
However, facts such as how opposition party leaders secretly met with displaced white farmers in a bid to reverse the land reform programme are clearly portrayed in night scenes of attempted betrayal.
In one scene displaced white farmer Mr Green and Mr Change make a clandestine barter-agreement. Farmer Green promises to finance Mr Change’s political campaign and the latter pledges to return the land upon attaining a high office.
“The Taking” explores important historical issues in a creative way that shows great talent among local actors.
The cast is an impressive ensemble of experienced actors Zenzo Nyathi, Gift Chakuvinga, Aleck Zulu, Elton Sibanda, and Musa Sibanda.
The play, which was staged in Bulawayo last year, ran from Thursday to Saturday at Theatre in the Park.
Online Reporter