EMGANWINI suburb-based Inkazimulo Arts has come up with a new HIV and Aids awareness play titled Orlando- Sophephelaphi.
Khulani Nkabinde
The play has been showcased at Amakhosi Cultural Centre as part of the Plays on Sunday programme.
The arts group is made up of students drawn from Emganwini Secondary School. Orlando-Sophephelaphi is about two brothers who leave Zimbabwe for greener pastures in South Africa.
While in that country, one of them dies of HIV and Aids while Orlando (played by Sanele Mpofu) survives, but becomes very sick also because of HIV complications and later dies in Zimbabwe.
“The story is an adaptation of real life events. Something similar happened in a family that I know. Only some aspects of the story were changed,” Kundai Shamuyarira, the playwright, said.
“The message we want to put across to young people through this play is that Aids is real, but it is a preventable disease.”
In the play, the brothers are portrayed as young men who have a string of girlfriends, most of whom they met at bars and nightclubs.
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Due to the fact that they did not practice safe sex and had multiple partners, they ended up contracting the deadly disease.
After the show at Amakhosi, the audience had an opportunity to critique their performance.
They were urged to research further on characterisation and to improve on their script.
“Go back to the drawing board and work hard on your script. The idea is very good, but you need to work on the script so that we see reality on stage. You should capture our attention through your acting,” said one playwright.
“Listening to people criticising us was very good as we now know where to improve on,” Shamuyarira said.
Most critics were unanimous that the group had room for growth as they were still at school.
