WUSIKU, a play by New Zealand-based writer Stan Makuwe, opens at Theatre in the Park tomorrow.
Report by Tinashe Sibanda
The play premiered at this year’s Protest Arts International Festival and now comes to the Park for a short run from November 20 to 24.
“This play was inspired by a conversation I had with a young man selling airtime on the street during my visit to Zimbabwe in 2010. It was also inspired by a German play, Woyzeck, about a disadvantaged young soldier who was executed for murdering his wife for infidelity,” said Makuwe.
Directed by Charles Matare, the play is a tragic tale of a young, underpaid junior soldier named Wusiku who murders his wife, Maria, for infidelity before he takes his own life.
Wusiku, though exhibiting symptoms of mental imbalance, loves his attractive wife so much that he does everything for her and their baby girl. They live in a single room in an army compound. He takes up menial jobs, from maintaining the Colonel’s garden to washing his feet.
Wusiku also sells airtime on the streets to supplement his meager salary. All his earnings go to his wife’s upkeep so that she can maintain her beauty.
The plot thickens when he contracts HIV after agreeing to be used as a test case for a new Aids drug. Hell breaks loose when Wusiku discovers that the Colonel is in love with his wife.
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“The play is bound to excite the audiences as it tackles issues affecting people daily, including infidelity, HIV and Aids, poverty and the way rich people tend to exploit the poor,” said Makuwe. The cast comprises of Chipo Bizure, Lovejoy Mawoneka, Nothando Nobengula, Teddy Mangawa and Matare.
