The Sunday Mail
Takudzwa Chihambakwe
OUR ancestors used to worship Mwari/Unkulunkulu (God) via spirit mediums and all was well.
When the white man came, he introduced the worship of God through Jesus Christ and encouraged the black majority to shun worshipping through spirit mediums.
His ideology has up to now split many in society, with hard-core African traditionalists arguing that they are still worshipping God perfectly in a different way.
The tension around this matter has, in some cases, caused parent and progeny to turn their hearts from each other. In extreme scenarios, a whole clan can turn against an individual who shuns their tradition in favour of the route of the white man or vice-versa.
In the South African play “Foot on the Grave”, sadly, this conflict leads to death.
The thought-provoking theatrical production was recently staged at Theatre in the Park. The play sees a father, who is also a pastor, failing to accept that his daughter is into traditional worship.
This causes animosity in the family as the father tries to stop the child, who is now suddenly pregnant (the Virgin Mary scenario). He tries to encourage her to turn to God and stop following in her mother’s steps — whom he says was killed by the spirits she worshipped.
The clash between the two is so grave that when the daughter gives birth, the father takes away the child in a bid to baptise him but in the process, the infant dies.
The emotional play also shows how such conflicts can affect the rest of society. In “Foot on the Grave”, the father and daughter war splits church members, with some suggesting that the daughter be disowned and cast out of their community.
The playwright and director, Thapo Pholo, says he worked on the production to showcase that if people put enough effort, the conflicts in society over this matter can be easily resolved.
“It’s an interesting situation that we as Africans find ourselves in. We were told by the white man not to interact with our late forefathers but yet they say it is well for us to worship Jesus, who is also said to have died and was resurrected. Is he not a dead man walking? And how true is it that he actually existed?” questioned Pholo.
“I strongly believe that tradition and Christianity can co-exist perfectly in society if the African man accepts who he is and what he stands for,” he continued.
This play was the second international production staged at the theatre in the last quarter of the year which will see a host of international plays being staged.
Next week, Theatre in the Park hosts two Ugandan productions — “Blood” and “Holy Maria”.
