The Sunday News
Raisedon Baya
FOR years my name as a writer has been associated more with theatre than anything else. I am first and foremost a theatre person. I fell in love with theatre when I was in Form One, way back. Later, when I began writing I carved a name by writing what most writers avoided writing about.
I went where only a few dared. In most circles I am a political writer — since most of my stories are political, mirroring Zimbabwean situations.
My most popular plays deal with issues like police brutality, political violence, the succession issue and other more sensitive issues. As I write this column I am already working on a play about the last days of Robert Mugabe.
Once or twice, just to stretch my creative muscles, I have written social plays — these tend to be more demanding because a social play has to be extraordinarily good to attract a good response from the audience. Some of my good non-political plays, good because people have talked about them long after their performances stopped, have been The Two Wives of John Mambo — there are plans to redo this play in 2018, Fragile, which is also in rehearsal for next year. The other play is The Arrangement which premiers this month end during Intwasa Extra.
There are several reasons you must see this play. First, it is non-political and with it comes the beauty of knowing that the writing has to be a notch up than most of the plays I have done. So it is better written.
The play also deals with a universal theme of love and the need to fit in a particular society.
Since the play is premièring during the festive season it suit the mood of the month end it definitely does. The arrangement is a fast-paced happy story.
The play, a re-imagination of Ganesh Bagshi’s intriguing story about the society we live in. A society that is characterised by norms and values that are considered taboo when discussed but can easily be infused in one’s character.
Ideally, the play is a presentation of a society that is in denial. These issues are made visible through the protagonist, Amelia. One may say being a girl is a matter of birth, but being a woman on the other hand is defined by the society, that is utterly patriarchal.
As much as one may want to deny, Amelia is a good example of that. She is desperate to be a woman, to be ‘‘whole’’. According to her she will only be “whole” after getting married and giving her husband lots of children.
One must note that this is a generalised definition instilled in her by the society that nurtured her. To her, love is not a feeling but rather an action — an action of being made Mrs Somebody, having a tag, and lawfully belonging to someone.
She is caught between two men. One promises to make her ‘‘whole’’ but she wants the best of both worlds. Amelia believes in love but values marriage more. Her true love is only willing to love and not marry.
This frustrates her to a point of breaking down because she succumbs to the pressures and forces from the outer world (society).
Her mother is always asking about when she is getting married, while her friend, Freddy, (always the concerned best friend) ridicules and mocks this arrangement that Amelia has got herself into. As the title suggests, her union is not complete, it has terms and conditions, it is nothing but an arrangement that benefits the man more.
She takes all her frustration out on her true love who is, but an iron steel, hard to crack and does not entirely believe in marriage. Her true love represents men that have decided defy the odds, defy society and its expectations. True Love believes his life is not defined by the society but by his education and exposure.
What really makes this story more enthralling is the fact that it is told within a day. The characters do not have a life time to explore all the issues but only a day. Within that short space of time one identifies a problem, an inciting incident, climax and resolution. More so the play has serious subtexts.
One must read between the lines, by so doing the audience is engaged and becomes part of the story. Anyone can easily relate to — lovers, married couples, those wishing to be involved, the old and the young. A truly feel good love story best for the festive season.
Watch out for some incredible talent from Elton Sebekhona Sibanda, Charmaine Mudau, Dalton Ngubeni, Stanford Mapfumo, Chipo Mawarire, Agnes Ncube, and Albert Tshuma.
