Sad story of  abused Nyembezi Sarah Mpofu in a scene from “Nyembezi”
Sarah Mpofu in a scene from “Nyembezi”

Sarah Mpofu in a scene from “Nyembezi”

Godwin Muzari Arts Editor —
When the play begins, the stage is neat with well-set props, but when it ends, everything has been brought down save for a burning candle and a sign written “STOP” that has been created during the performance.

The destruction on stage — brought about by violent scenes that characterise the better part of the play — resembles painful reality of broken hearts and shattered dreams that haunt abused girls and women in the society.

“Nyembezi”, a one-woman play, brings to fore various forms of chauvinistic abuse and brutality that women face every day in communities with embedded convictions of male superiority.

The one-hander was staged at Theatre in the Park last week starring prominent actress Sarah Mpofu.

Sarah delivered a perfect production, alternating between various roles to tell a sad story of Nyembezi who dreams of happiness every day, but always wakes up to the reality of endless abuse and misfortune. But in all these twists and turns, hope seems to flicker at the end of the tunnel as symbolised by a candle that burns on stage throughout the play.

Even in hard times of unimaginable abuse, women harbour collective hope of a better future. The play traces Nyembezi from suffering as a child to tribulations as an adult.

She goes through a heinous experience as her father rapes her when she is still young. The incident inflicts a permanent wound on Nyembezi’s heart and she loathes her past throughout her life.

After being raped and falling pregnant, her mother forces her to disclose who is responsible. The disclosure is a bombshell that strikes her mother’s soul. She collapses and dies.

Nyembezi goes to live with her aunt and she gives birth to a baby boy. But their relationship is distant and it almost worsens the situation when her uncle starts making sexual advances towards her.

Faced with another marauding male abuser and an uncertain future, Nyembezi leaves her baby and goes to Harare to look for a job. She does not know anyone in Harare and finds herself on the streets. She tries many trades on the streets until she gets initiated into prostitution.

After some time of going through evil routines as a sex-worker, misfortune strikes as Nyembezi stabs a police officer in a commotion during a clean-up campaign. She is jailed.

When she leaves jail, Nyembezi opts for a different trade and goes to be a waitress KwaMereki, a popular outdoor leisure place in Harare. The new job brings hope as Nyembezi decides to pursue education and gets qualifications in hospitality. After a brief struggle, she gets a job and things seem to fall into place.

Nyembezi’s greatest mistake is that she hates her past so much that she does not even check on her son.

She gets married and also hides her past from her young lover. The marriage seems to provide an answer to Nyembezi’s woes as she finds happiness. She gives birth to her second child. However, when the bliss in the marriage begins to fall away and her husband becomes abusive, Nyembezi decides to open up on her past.

And another bombshell strikes. Nyembezi discovers that her young husband is actually her son. Now, the son she dumped at her aunt’s place has become the father of her child. Her husband. What a complicated reality? A sudden blow that marks the end of the play.

Violence and abuse has wrecked the stage. The candle flickers on. But there seems to be no hope for Nyembezi. Hope is only in the sign “STOP” that Nyembezi creates during her lonely meditations during the play.

But, will the perpetrators of abuse really stop when – in the play – they seem to get away with their sins while their victim continues to suffer? That is probably the question writer and director of “Nyembezi” Lewis Ndlovu seeks to bring forward through the exceptional production.

The stage was set in a way that made it easy for the actress to change roles without going behind the curtain. Mood of the scenes was enhanced by audio effects that included background songs from the late Brenda Fassie, Chiwoniso Maraire and Tongai Moyo. “Nyembezi” will leave you thinking more about the fight against abuse of women.

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