Zimbabwean drama in the right direction
THE stage play Ukama by Savanna Arts Trust recently seen during Arts Extra in Bulawayo is a master class in playwriting, acting and directing.
Watching the play I suddenly remembered why I fell in love with theatre in the first place.
There I was surrendering myself and letting the play take me to places I rarely remembered, feeling stuff I had forgotten.
The beauty of its language, the minimalist set and style, and the brilliant acting from the threemember cast reminded many thespians and the general audience what drama actually needs to be if it is to continue to entertain, stimulate and compete with other sources of entertainment that continue to sprout the world over.
Written and directed by multi-award winning South African writer and director Bongani Benedict Masango the play boldly but gently, like an experienced lover, explores issues of marriage and failure to conceive, family relations, urban and regional migration.
It also looks at other issues relating to the girl child.
Drama is character. And this Bongani Benedict Masango knows well. The three main characters and their human predicament struck a common chord with the audience — there was never a dull moment. Ukama is about characters who can use language to hypnotise their audience.
The play’s dialogue is so rich, oozing nothing but gold nuggets of Zimbabwean culture. The sentences were all well thought out, well woven together and were like music to the ears.
There was something poetic and magical about the dialogue. Plot twists and turns came in more as surprises, adding to the richness of the presentation.
It was obvious the play was written after a thorough research and by someone who totally believes in the power of words.
It was only sad that most young writers who have been attempting to write or direct for theatre were nowhere near the theatre the night of the performance.
To be honest to reduce the outstanding writing, imagery, Masango’s language and the brilliant acting to one or two sentence or even a paragraph is criminal, to say the least.
Charlene Mangweni is a star in her own right. It was my first time seeing her on a theatre stage and I properly impressed.
Her delivery was on point. Teddy Mangava has grown so much that everywhere he goes now he leaves a signature. Veteran actor and theatre director Memory Kumbota says Teddy Mangava is “probably Zimbabwe’s best actor at the moment.” Young, and almost unknown . . . oozes natural talent and confidence. The play is so deep, and multi-layered, that seeing it once is not enough.
I loved the direction. It is simply but detailed. The pictures and the rhythm. The simplicity of the set and yet so powerful. The play was purely a master class in acting, playwriting and directing.
Savanna Trust have taken Zimbabwean theatre to another level. Starting probably with Pub Stories — Tony Fights Tonight, followed by Half Full, Half Empty, Liberation and now UKama. Their recent body of works speaks more of an organisation intent on redefining Zimbabwean theatre. And it is exactly what they are doing.