The Sunday Mail
Takudzwa Chihambakwe
SHE was born with perfect eyesight and her life was going on impeccably. One day disaster struck. After giving birth — she suddenly became blind.
Today she has become an inspiration. She is living testimony that disability does not mean inability. The aforementioned is the narrative of a play, one based on a true story. “Narratives From the Dark” premièred at Theatre in the Park in Harare last week.
This true story was brought to life through the pen of Special Matarirano and was directed by Eunice Tava. It features débutante on the big stage, Edith Masango, whose performance belied the fact that she was a first-timer. It was clear that she had taken time to perfect her act as she flawlessly switched from one character to another and kept the audience engaged and expectant in this one-woman play.
Masango highlights some of the challenges that visually impaired people have to deal with. “For instance in banks, there are no positions for blind people. Who says we cannot also qualify to be bankers? Even in Parliament, there is no room for us the visually impaired, and yet these noisy legislators want to represent us. “How do they represent us when they have no idea what we go through? We need to have platforms created that we as the visually impaired can represent ourselves. Yes, we cannot see but we have the intellectual capacity to argue our case,” said Masango in her performance.
Overall, the first attempt was quite good though the director could have gotten Masango to show more emotion in some scenes, and instead of narrating some of the challenges, she could have acted them out. The Sunday Mail Society got time to chat with playwright Matarirano, who shared the process of writing the play. “When I started writing this play, I had already met Edith and knew her capabilities hence the process was mainly guided by what I knew of the actress.
One thing that stood out clearly was the actress’ power to remember things. “She had told me the story of her life and what she went through, and I created a narrative that had a quasi-biography of her life as a direct mirror and sample of the larger reality of people leaving with disability,” said Matarirano. “The important message in the play is ‘life is a struggle’ and everyone who lives on earth must be a combatant to fight and win battles. And within such a setting, people living with disabilities are hard hit since they must fight double wars in their lives, they must fight the stereotyping that goes with their conditions in society and they must fight to survive again.
“The important message to those living with disability here is; they must be strong enough to fight for a place, for a voice in the societies they live. The play works as an inspiration and wake up call to these people as much as it exposes the unspoken marginalisation by society,” he added. “Narratives From the Dark” is set to go on a global tour.
“This type of play cuts across societies, nations, cultures and continents, so as much as we are going to be in every corner of our country with the play, we are also going to be travelling across the borders and continents.
“We are currently working towards securing performances in many countries and continents. I believe the play’s lifespan can go on for years,” said Matarirano.
