The Sunday News
Raisedon Baya
I LIVE in Zimbabwe. Nothing shocks my countrymen or women any more. We now move around like zombies, more like characters from the American television series The Walking Dead, showing little feelings, hiding our fears, impotent rage, frustrations and abandoned dreams inside our thick black skins — completely aware that the worst thing that can happen to us now is death. For everything else we have witnessed. Name it and we have seen it all; crisis, hunger, bottled rage, drought, corruption, power cuts, the worst hyper-inflation in the world, cash shortages, unemployment. There is really nothing we haven’t seen.
During the worst period of our crisis we lost our own currency. I have never heard of anything like that happening to any country in Africa. We are the first. Our homes, places where we all expected laughter, love, and security became more of hiding places — we went home to hide our tears, frustrations and fears. Home was not home anymore. Living in Zimbabwe became a struggle and as a result millions of Zimbabweans migrated to places they thought were better, places that offered them hope for new beginnings. The majority moved into neighbouring countries like Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho — these have better economies and more importantly stability.
The lucky ones left for Europe and America. They all left to find better places they could call home. A home they at least feel safe living in. For many that foreign “home” has become a reality. They live new dreams. Happy to have left their country of birth. For others moving away from Zimbabwe in search of new homes became nothing but a nightmare. For those that settled in South Africa the nightmare has been real. These have borne the brunt of serious xenophobic attacks — with some being burnt alive in open streets, some have been stabbed and other simply terrorised for speaking a different language and having a darker skin than South African people. When those in America, Europe and other places of the world occasionally call back to Zimbabwe they tell sad stories of racism, unfriendly weather, loneliness, and depression.
Theatre, especially travelling theatre, is migratory in nature. Imagine taking one play from one venue to another, from one city to another, from one country to another and trying to make your audiences believe that the play was made specifically for them. Each performance trying so hard to find home in every venue. In Zimbabwe, and perhaps most of Africa, theatre has no specific home. Wherever there are people/audiences our theatre has always tried to find a home there. This theatre life — you can call it nomadic — of constantly trying to find a home has become a serious reality for millions of Zimbabweans.
But what has Zimbabwean theatre done to give direction or at least offer some kind of home for the millions who have been displaced and continue to search for that elusive home? Nothing much to be honest. However, theatre has continued to document Zimbabwe’s situation since things started going bad. Theatre has also, in a small way though, been able to offer some therapy to many troubled citizens and even the artistes themselves by offering hope and a space to imagine a better tomorrow. Theatre has been one of the few platforms in Zimbabwe where the general public has been told the truth. It continues to that one platform that continues to be the little voice of conscience, and the voice of the masses.
For years now theatre has been a sanctuary for many Zimbabwean “artivists”. Theatre has been home for pro-democracy ideas and alternative thoughts. Theatre has spoken against abuse of power, against displacement and the senseless deportations of Africans and other immigrants around the world. It is a public secret that people do not migrate from where they are happy, safe and see a brighter future for themselves and their children. People migrate from places that threaten their happiness, safety and even survival. I believe in a theatre that encourages tolerance. Tolerance of our differences and diversity as human beings. I believe in a multi- cultural society. I believe in providing safe homes for those that are genuinely running from harm and seeking homes in foreign lands. After all, we are one people whose differences are in the sounds of our tongues and the colour of our skins and/or the strands of our hair.
Zimbabwe itself is a cosmopolitan country. Before her independence, when she was still a British colony under the name Rhodesia and a business hub for Southern Africa many migrant workers from Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique found permanent homes in Zimbabwe. The unfortunate truth is that rarely do you find this narrative in Zimbabwean theatre, save perhaps through traditional dance in the mines.
As a playwright I am currently working on a piece called Fragile. This is a physical theatre presentation on migration, homophobia, and xenophobia. It is about Zimbabwean citizens abandoning their country for South Africa because the other country offers better opportunities. One of the characters is running away from homophobia. She is lesbian and fears for her life in Zimbabwean where President Mugabe has described gays and lesbians as worse than dogs. South Africa is the only African country that honestly and genuinely tolerates minority sexual rights. Other characters in the play have left Zimbabwe for economic and political reasons. These have found homes in South Africa. Some even feel more South African than Zimbabwean, even though they are being persecuted. They so much want to forget the past and with it their true identity.
I know of writers and artistes who are in exile and feel exactly like some of the characters in my play. They feel lost. They feel betrayed. They feel angry. Most of these have found a home and even a stronger voice to articulate issues back here better than most of us who remained in Zimbabwe. Writers like NoViolet Bulawayo, Petina Gapah, Tendai Huchu and Christopher Mlalazi.
Exile has given these artistes a better perspective and more courage to speak about the injustices in Zimbabwe.
As we discuss migration, home and theatre the critical question to ask ourselves is: What exactly is home? Well, the truth is that home is no longer a piece of land in one’s country of birth. Home is now any place of comfort. Home can be anywhere. This is what every government in the world needs to understand.
Globalisation has reduced the world into a village. And we all belong to this village.
