|
AWARD-winning playwright, Raisedon Baya has been aptly called the creative mind of local theatre.
The master of protest theatre is one never to be shy of expressing his point. And it is because of this that Baya has courted the wrath of authorities, keen on clamping down on what they perceive as dissenting voices.
In a country where views deemed politically incorrect are either gagged or modified, Baya has been on the receiving end because he stands up for his right to speak through his works.
In 2003 the play Super Morons and Patriots that he co-wrote with Leonard Matsa was banned and remains banned six years later.
In 2008 police stopped a performance of his play The Crocodile of Zambezi and the production manager was kidnapped and tortured.
“A writer, an actor, a playwright and an artist in general will keep on exposing through his art what he sees,” he said.
“A lot is always pricking my conscience. Zimbabwe is like a laboratory with unending things to experience. I write what I feel, what I see and what I hear. It inspires my work, it motivates and instructs my plays,” Baya said.
Baya has written many plays but the one that has made the biggest impact is The Water Story; a story about the emotive issue of the water crisis in Bulawayo that politicians have ignored since time immemorial.
When it was performed for the first time in Harare there was a lot of empathy for the people of Bulawayo within the audience during the premiere at Theatre in the Park.
The media is at his heart: “The media has been treated like a state enemy and that is why I wrote a play that zooms on their struggle, your day-to-day struggle.”
The play the acclaimed playwright is talking about is What They Said, What they Got.
Baya describes the play as a multi-issue driven production that interrogates the relations between society, culture and the media.
“Fundamental human rights issues are questioned when characters, set in modern day Zimbabwe, ironically find themselves stuck in constitutional situations reminiscent of the colonial times.
“The play criticises repression in Rhodesia and questions why the same is obtaining in a supposedly free democracy.
“Cultural dimensions extend into the plot with a conflict between a husband, who is a journalist tormented by state restrictions, and a wife who moonlights as a scribe.”
The play was inspired by the day-to-day issues raised by the news media. It was written by Baya and directed by Walter Muparutsa.
Daves Guzha produced the play.
Baya went to Lobengula Primary School, Sobukhazi Secondary and Mzilikazi High School, arguably the school where art is a religion.
He later enrolled at the Belvedere Technical College.
He has worked for National Arts Council, Amakhosi Theatre and as a consultant for many arts centres in Zimbabwe and abroad.
“In spite of the clampdown on plays deemed unpalatable to the ruling party’s Zanu PF mantra, we have soldiered on like nothing is out there.
“For this reason I have a class of hand-picked students in Bulawayo I am teaching to write, critique and produce plays.
“I want to have continuity in the field and ensure them exposure like I got.”
The programme called Schools Playwrights and Actors Academy has been a revelation in a city that thrives on its art and boasts of many celebrated artists like imbongi Albert Nyathi and the mercurial Cont Mhlanga.
However, Baya is of the view that being a playwright based in Bulawayo is not easy.
“One has to work extra hard compared to our counterparts in Harare. This is so because Harare is strategically positioned media-wise.
“Even when a play from this end wins a National Arts Merit Award most people are always asking if the play ever took place.”
Despite all this, Baya’s plays have been talking points because of their relevance to the situation in the country.
“It’s society that does not understand that a powerful citizenry that is informed makes for a powerful government.”
Baya is married to Nesisa Ndlovu and the couple has one daughter, Makanaka.
BY JOHN MOKWETSI
 |
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
