CAN'T PAY WON'T PAY
A production of a Zimbabwean adaptation
of Dario Fo's play by Dominic Kanaventi & Taura Tinzwe Theatre
Dominic
J Kanaventi
Dominic J Kanaventi of Taura Tinzwe deserves great praise! I caught the
finalperformance (in english) infront of an invited audience at REPS Upstairs.
The production had been translated into Shona as an Outreach
Project (HATINA MARI HATIBHADHARE ) and toured, during the last weeks,
to many venues in Townships around Harare. The cast handled this hilarious
farce brilliantly all five actors creating masterful characters.
The play's theme is so relavent to contemporary Zimbabwe, taking as it's
starting point the moment when some ladies in a supermarket decided
they will protest about the extreme raising of prices by walking out without
paying...... The consequent trials of consience as the police move in
to search for "looted goods" and it evolves that their husbands
have also
made a stand by refusing to pay to the exhorbitant bus fares to
travel to work.
The Outreach Project was supported by HIVOS. It is interesting to note
that the Taura Tinzwe report that getting audiences to pay $20 to see
the
show in Dzivaresekwa, Mbare, Highfield and Mabvuku was quite problematic.
This was a situation which I found when organising the Dance Foundation
Course Outreach Tour to the same venues in 1990. Then we were asking for
50 cents, aruguably worth more than $20 is now..!! The fact of an entrance
fee still presents a total barrier to both young and old in these venues.
Can't Pay Won't Pay..!! How true! Yet as Dominic Kanaventi says.. "
if just one person was inspired to act, it will have all been worth while..!!"
Looking back we can now see how the reallity of this, with groups like
Tumbuka, Amakosi and several others who have grown from similar backgrounds.
Arts Event List wish the director and producer of Taura Tinzwe: Dawn
Parkinson "all the best" with her travels to Ireland. Over the
years Dawn
has produced and directed so many productions at REPS that the list would
seem endless. She has been an inspiration to so many aspiring artistes,
Ireland is really going to benefit.
Chris Hamblin