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Angela Sibanda, Showbiz Correspondent
INTWASA Arts Festival koBulawayo production, Vagina Monologues, a play that explores the consensual and non-consensual sexual experiences of women is returning to the Bulawayo Theatre this month due to public demand. It is an international episodic play written by New York activist, feminist, and performer Eve Ensler in 1996.
It was adopted by the Intwasa Festival koBulawayo and premiered for the first time in Zimbabwe in 2020, even though it only showed online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was after its presentation that local audiences cried for a more Afrocentric version of the play and this prompted local authors who then came together and wrote the current version of the play.
Produced by Chipo Mawarire, the Zimbabwean version was written by seven authors, including Dr Yvonne Maphosa, Patience Phiri and Grace Maguri. The play features seven actors, Charmaine Mudau, Lady Tshawe, Musa Sibanda, Agnes Ncube, Sthae Mdubiwa, Lorin Sibanda and Nonvuyiso Mabi. It focuses on issues such as the female body image, genital mutilation, direct and indirect encounters with reproduction, vaginal care, menstrual period, and prostitution as viewed and experienced by women of different ages, races, sexualities, and other differences.
Due to the pertinence of the issues, it seeks to address and its articulation by the actresses, the production showcased to physical audiences last month has gained popularity and become a must-watch.
It is no surprise that audiences have requested the play to be shown again. As such, the play will be returning on December 30 for Intwasa Extra which is taking place from December 27 to 30. On the synopsis of the play, the producer, Mawarire described the play’s aim as that of liberating women and empowering them to freely seek help and be able to have their issues addressed.
“The monologues seek to address topics that are deemed taboo – the parts of a woman’s life that have long been kept in the dark because it is easier to silence than confront them. These issues are brought to the table because they are everyone’s.“Sex and sexuality are a part of women and everyone’s lives that we can’t ignore. By demystifying the vagina, women and girls are liberated in a lot of ways,” she wrote.
Online Reporter