The drama of our story

18 July 2008

Author: Selloane Mokuku

Having established a unique blend of theatrical elements with participants’ talents and creativity, the Winter/Summer Institute (WSI) in Theatre for Development allowed audience members to thread the stories beyond the performance, thus shifting the sometimes-ephemeral theatre experience by challenging spectators to think beyond their own frames of ‘what is and what could be.’ Two exceptional elements of the play were its ability to present a credible children’s milieu amidst the HIV pandemic and also to explain the rapid spread of HIV in Southern Africa via relationships with long-term but concurrent sexual partners.

Succinct and often poignant scenes evolved from three onstage “villages” that served as the backdrop for WSI’s brand of rich but bare bones theatre, a form that transcends the divide between actors and audience that is sometimes created by more conventional theatre. Actors took on multiple roles to portray stories of lives transformed, distorted and destroyed through the effects of HIV/Aids – but also to present the hope and triumph of those who have faced the virus and are living with it through ARVs. Research for the play included Helen Epstein’s book, The Invisible Cure: Africa, the West, and the Fight Against AIDS, presentations by local practitioner Dr. Molotsi Monyamane and international partner Linda Pearson from Mèdicins San Frontières (MSF), as well as the personal testimony of a woman living with AIDS.

The stories, at once comforting and discomforting, were entwined by music richly endowed with WSI’s talented and culturally diverse cast under the direction of Alta Van As, head of music at the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Education. Katt Lissard, WSI artistic director, shared that, that for 2008, “WSI was able to use what we learned in 2006 to hone our process, and in some cases were able to take it to a deeper level.”

Astonishing, however, is how HIV/Aids still brings to the surface misconceptions, taboos and ideological dichotomies despite the massive education campaigns that Lesotho and other countries have embarked upon. “I have learned from this play that HIV/Aids kills. I mean, if you are HIV positive, you are dead,” said one audience member. On the contrary, another felt, “this play has illuminated the cause of such massive spread of HIV/Aids through the sexual relationship networks you explained as concurrency, without being judgmental. It really depends on individuals to dare to change and to be kind to one another. I have experienced such hope.” In Malealea, where WSI broadened its scope even further to include village actors in the creative process, there was a general feeling that women are aware of HIV and its impact, but men are still reticent. This gender imbalance in awareness is a situation that Relebohile Mokone, an Essential HIV and AIDS Services Package Community Support Person, said will soon be addressed through male focus group discussions to be held in ’Malakeng Community Council, which includes the area of Malealea.

2 The scene in the play titled “Uncle’s Game,” depicting the sexual abuse of a child by a relative was particularly disturbing to the audience, laying bare the vulnerability of orphaned children. “The audience laughter in reaction to the scene is of nervousness, we have girl children and the scene where the uncle rapes the child is just too close to reality,” a spectator observed. The audience was further cautioned that patients should know their rights, perhaps echoing the world cry that health care systems should be responsive to the plights of those they serve.

GTZ HIV/Aids Advisor Laura Beres said the role of theatre to raise community awareness is invaluable. She added that while there may be a high level of individual awareness in Lesotho about the pandemic, a stronger collective consciousness is crucial in changing behavior, pointing out that the play has taken a landmark step by publicly addressing some of the private issues destroying communities.

The Winter/Summer Institute 2008 linked the National University of Lesotho, the University of the Witwatersrand (School of Education, and School of Arts), and Empire State College, State University of New York. The Institute will reconvene in 2010. During the interim WSI participants will continue to carry out a variety of projects, performances and research endeavors connected to this year’s Institute. And the conversations about the play will continue -- just as the grandmother in the final scene responds in light-hearted protest that children ask so many questions: “It is now your story, our story.”

Selloane Mokuku is a Drama for Life Scholar and a 2008 Winter/Summer Institute participant.
Further information can be directed to smokuku@hotmail.com or DfL Director Warren Nebe warren.nebe@wits.ac.za or DfL Manager Levinia Jones levinia.jones@wits.ac.za or www.maketheatre.org

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