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From Panic to Reconciliation: Protest Theatre and the State in Zimbabwe, 1999–2012

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2016

KELVIN CHIKONZO
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Abstract

Between 1999 and 2008, Zimbabwe was in political and economic crisis. A number of theatre-makers responded by creating several different kinds of protest theatre. They did this to compensate for a media monopoly by the state, to promote active citizen engagement in politics, and to promote political change. This article first surveys developments in protest theatre at this time. It then draws attention to a brand of protest theatre that emerged after the crisis in Zimbabwe, after the formation of a Government of National Unity. Reconciliatory protest theatre, I explain, was concerned with issues of national healing and reconciliation which dominated the post-crisis situation in Zimbabwe. Whilst both the state and protest artists concurred on the fact that the nation ought to be healed and that reconciliation was needed, tensions emerged as to how the processes of healing and reconciliation were to unfold. By looking at two examples in detail, I explain how Zimbabwe's theatre artists viewed this issue, and how the state reacted.

Type
Articles
Information
Theatre Research International , Volume 41 , Issue 3 , October 2016 , pp. 218 - 230
Copyright
Copyright © International Federation for Theatre Research 2016 

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References

NOTES

1 See Zenenga, Praise, ‘Censorship, Surveillance, and Protest Theater in Zimbabwe’, Theater, 38, 3 (2008), pp. 67–83 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Chivandikwa, Nehemiah, ‘Theatre and/as Insurrection in Zimbabwe’, Studies in Theatre and Performance, 31, 1 (2012), pp. 29–45 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Joy. L. Wrolson, ‘Re-inventing Memory and Reforming Performance: A Genealogy of Panic Theatre in Zimbabwe’ (D.Phil. thesis, University of Kansas, 2009), avbailable at https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/handle/1808/5956/Wrolson_ku_0099D_10571_DATA_1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y, accessed 26 July 2016.

2 Cont Mhlanga, ‘A Statement from Cont Mhlanga: Voices for Change’, 4 September 2007, at www.voicesfromzimbabwe.com/content/view/17/36, accessed 12/2/14. This link is no longer available. Many websites containing material on protest in Zimbabwe are becoming inaccessible, especially after the recent protests in Zimbabwe over the Mugabe regime.

3 Savannah Trust, 2004, at www.savannatrust.com, accessed 22 August 2010.

4 Rooftop Promotions, at www.spla.pro/en/file.organization.rooftop-promotions.12538.html, accessed 4 August 2016.

5 See Wrolson, ‘Re-inventing Memory and Reforming Performance’, 11.

6 Ravengai, Samuel, ‘Political Theatre, National Identity, and Political Control: The Case of Zimbabwe’, African Identities, 8, 2 (2010), pp. 163–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

7 ‘Zimbabwe Outlaws Satirical Play’, BBC News, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3703729.stm, accessed 25 July 2016.

8 Yamikai Mwando, ‘Political Theatre Rattles Ruling Party’, Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 14 April 2008, at https://iwpr.net/global-voices/political-theatre-rattles-ruling-party, accessed 25 July 2016.

9 Author interview with Silvanos Mudzvova, Harare, 22 September 2010.

10 David Smith, ‘Letter from Africa: “When You Tell a Joke in the Street, That Is Political”’, The Guardian, 12 May 2009, www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/12/david-smith-cont-mhlanga, accessed 25 July 2016.

11 Gordon Glyn-Jones, ‘Theatre – Zimbabwe's last free speech?’, BBC Focus on Africa Magazine, 10 August 2004, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3937883.stm, accessed 23 August 2010.

12 Ravengai, ‘Political Theatre’.

13 Mwando, ‘Political Theatre Rattles Ruling Party’.

14 Mhlanga, ‘A Statement’.

15 John Mokwetsi, ‘Zimbabwe: Cont Could Aim to Be the Good President’, 17 May 2008, at http://allafrica.com/stories/200805191018.html, accessed 25 July 2016.

16 ‘Zimbabwe: Mhlanga Wins International Award’, 8 December 2008, at http://allafrica.com/stories/200812080236.html, accessed 25 July 2016.

17 Zenenga, Praise, ‘Hit and Run Theatre: The Rise of a New Dramatic Form in Zimbabwe’, Theater History Studies, 30, 1 (2010)Google Scholar, pp. 14–41, here p. 14.

18 Smith, ‘Letter from Africa’.

19 Author interview with Lloyd Nyikadzino, Harare, 12 November, 2012.

20 See Thompson, Alex and Jazdowska, Niki, ‘Bringing in the Grassroots: Transitional Justice in Zimbabwe’, Conflict, Security and Development, 12, 1 (2012), pp. 15–24.Google Scholar Moreblessing Mbire, ‘Seeking Reconciliation and National Healing in Zimbabwe: Case Study of Organ for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration (ONHRI)’ (master's dissertation, International Institute for Social Studies, The Hague, 2011). Bratton, Michael, ‘Violence, Partisanship and Transitional Justice in Zimbabwe’, Journal of Modern African Studies, 49, 3 (2011), pp. 353–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Makwerere, P. and Mandonga, E., ‘Rethinking the Traditional Institutions of Peace and Conflict Resolution in Post-2000 Zimbabwe’, International Journal of Social Science Tomorrow, 1, 4 (2012), pp. 1–8.Google Scholar

21 Thompson and Jazdowska, ‘Bringing in the Grassroots’, p. 90.

22 Rituals, Rooftop Promotions (live recording, Harare, 2010). The author bought a copy of the performance on sale by Rooftop Promotions. Rooftop Promotions sell copies of their shows at their office in Eastlea, Harare.

23 Bratton, ‘Violence, Partisanship and Transitional Justice’, p. 355.

24 Author interview with D. Guzha, Harare, 22 January 2015.

25 The official was quoted by Rooftop Promotions on the recording of Rituals.

26 Ibid.

27 Muzondo Tafadzwa, ‘Foreword’ to Tafadzwa, No Voice No Choice (unpublished play, Harare, 2012), p. 1. Muzondo gave the author both the script and video of No Voice, No Choice.

28 Tafadzwa, No Voice No Choice, 2012.

29 Ibid.

30 Tinashe Sibanda, ‘No Voice, No Choice Barred from Festival Stage’, 15 August 2012, at www.newsday.co.zw/2012/08/15/2012-08-15-no-voice-choice-barred-from-festival-stage, accessed 22 August 2013.

31 Ibid.

32 Ibid.

33 Correspondence from H. J. Malaba, chair of the Board of Censors, Ministry of Home Affairs, Zimbabwe, to T. Muzondo, Head of Edzai Isu Arts Theatre, 21 August 2012, p. 1. Letter shared with the author by Muzondo.

34 ‘Lawyers Stand Up for Persecuted Artists’, Daily News, 26 September 2012, at www.dailynews.co.zw/articles/2012/09/26/lawyers-stand-up-for-persecuted-artists, accessed 25 July 2016.

35 ‘Rituals Actors Arrested on Stage’, The Standard, 10 January 2011, at www.thestandard.co.zw/2011/01/10/rituals-actors-arrested-on-stage, accessed 17 March 2011.

36 Sibanda, ‘No Voice, No Choice Barred’.