Play gives voice to abused girls

LAMENTATIONSGodwin Muzari Arts Editor
Actress Getrude Munhamo announced her venture into playwriting with a bang through the play “Lamentations @12” that was staged at Theatre in the Park last week.

Munhamo takes audiences on a swinging journey of laughter and sorrow as she seeks to expose abuses that the girl child experiences in the society in different circumstances.

The play is set in historical phases, tracing the tribulations that young girls — represented by two 12-year-olds — have gone through in Zimbabwe before and after independence.

“Lamentations @ 12” is a social mirror that reflects on harsh realities that young girls in various communities face every day.

In addition to her writing debut, Munhamo stars in the production alongside talented Delma Chiwereva and the combination of their expertise on stage brings a complete package.

With superb choreography from renowned dance expert Gibson Sarari of Zvido Zvevanhu Arts Ensemble, the play fuses emotions with physical theatre that enhances the actresses’ stage presence.

Sarari also provides background music to the play and his drumming dictates the tempo of the production in a way that makes it a unique presentation.

The props make it easy for the actresses to alternate between scenes that show activities in the bush, at home and along a river with ease.

With three trees “planted” on stage and a live fire that lights the early stages of the play with a scene at a night vigil (pungwe) during the liberation war, the production immensely came closer to reality.

In the pre-Independence era that is mainly focused on the country’s war of liberation, “Lamentations @12” celebrates the role that Chimbwidos played during the war and also exposes how some wayward fighters failed to follow the rules of the struggles.

It shows how a 12-year-old girl sacrifices to be in the thick of things in the bush, supporting the fighters, only to get raped by a Cde Bomba, a liberation war fighter who diverts from the strict ways of struggle that are clearly spelt out in liberation war song “Nzira Dzemasoja” that is also sung in the play.

After singing the song passionately and pretending to be loyal to the lyrics before the masses, Cde Bomba goes on to rape the Chimbwido, exposing characteristics of some elements that brought the wrath of ancestral spirits on innocent fighters because of dis- obedience.

The post-war period in the play shows how tribal conflicts also affected young girls while the final scenes show present-day tribulations that young girls go through at the hands of false prophets and as a result of rituals instigated by self-styled traditional healers.

One girl is offered as a prize to counter an avenging spirit (ngozi) and forced to be intimate with nine men every morning while another is raped by a prophet and forced to become his wife.

Munhamo and Chiwereva’s delivery was good in “Lamentations @12”.

However, the actresses have to work on their combination of speech and physical theatre.

Some of their lines were hardly audible when they spoke while running or jumping on stage. They have to balance the actions so that audiences do not lose track.

The producers also showed their hunger for political controversy when they ran irrelevant footage on a screen above the stage.

The footage’s only achievement was to disrupt audiences from following stage scenes of an otherwise impressive play that can do exceptionally well without video supplements.

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