On finishing the rounds in Morogoro Region with their play “Tuamke Sasa” (“Let’s Wakeup Now”), earlier this year, certain changes had to be made before taking the 60-minute production to Dodoma Region.
THE opening scene of the play “Tuamke Sasa” (Let’s Wakeup Now), a production of Dar es Salaam-based Tanzania Community Civic Initiatives (TACCI), is presented at Mulua Village, Suruke Ward in Dodoma Region to introduce the audience to the excessive drinking habit of some villages. (Photo by Iman Mani)
This is because the Dar es Salaam-based Tanzania Community Civic Initiatives (TACCI) troupe’s leadership believes when the people of a place are able to identify with what they see and hear on a stage, they become interested in its contents.
It is for this reason that the first thing these leaders did after staging the play throughout Morogoro Region was to visit Dodoma Region and start with a courtesy call at the Regional Commissioner’s office.
From the briefing they got from there, they became fully acquainted with the major problems in the region. They also got the chance to complete a detailed research of some key cultural differences in this region, as opposed to Morogoro, which they had to find ways of including in the production.
“After our meeting with the Dodoma RC we were able to clearly identify some of the important changes we needed to incorporate in the play,” the main trainer of the troupe, Chahya Mtiro, who lecturers in film at the Fine and Performing Arts (FPA) Department of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), told the ‘Daily News’ yesterday.
“We also saw that there was a need to change certain things in the general setting, for it to resemble this region.”
He also talked about having to change the majority of actors, for their presentations of the play in Dodoma Region, together with bringing a number of traditional songs from the Gogo ethnic group into it. Such changes required rewriting the script to incorporate them, so as to fall in line with the Dodoma cultural surroundings and traits.
On the side of musical instrumentation, they brought in a set of authentic Gogo drums, a zeze (kind of traditional violin that is famous in this area) and a mbira into the production. Each of these had their own players within the crew.
Such additions, Mtiro maintains were deliberately done to bring a flavour of Dodoma culture into the play. The experience he had gained over many years, working and teaching theatre, has taught him that when an audience is able to identify their customs and traditions in a production, they take more notice of it, simply because it makes them happy.
One of the characteristics of a community theatre presentation, he added, is that it must use familiar language and or other cultural things, which are familiar to the people for whom a production is being staged, for it to deserve being called such.
“We got a natural lesson, for when we arrived in Dodoma Region, while on our research, we realised that there are a lot of things poor people there could be doing but were not, to improve the life they were living,” Mtiro said.
“For example, you could find someone, who has the knowhow and natural materials available to make their own bricks to build with, not doing this but instead spend their time complaining that they don’t have somewhere better to stay in.
“Raising livestock, such as chickens and goats are also things people in these places can do to help themselves attain a better living, slowly but surely. There are always certain things villagers can do, at their level of development, to help pull themselves out of poverty,” Mtiro added.
It was after these things were ready that the troupe started rehearsing with the new line-up, for five days. Being dependent on funds from US Aid enables them to stay afloat, so they have nothing but gratitude for this assistance.
However, they have to be very prudent in its usage, so as to be able to cover all necessities before, after and during presentations. It so happened that at this stage of their activities in preparations for Dodoma Region, funds was short and certain crucial equipment had not arrived, Mtiro explained.
Despite this situation the time had come for the players to move the next step, so the decision was made to take the cast and crew to Dodoma Region, where they would complete training and take advantage of a number of natural factors, just from being there.
That is how they ended-up there from July the first. Preparations did not take long and after one week they started to comb the urban and rural Dodoma Town areas before moving to Bahi District, where they made the rounds then went to Kondoa District, followed by Mpwapwa District from last Saturday.
Michael Mgina, a tailor and farmer, who lives within the Milongo Mitatu Square in Chaduru Village, of the same ward in Dodoma Town area, had seen the play presented there twice. He feels the production has got some relevance there, especially with regards to helping residents face their overuse of traditional beer.
However, he believes it would even have more significance if staged in the rural areas. A mother of three children, in this area, Mzega Kalambwanda, told the ‘Daily News’ although life is very difficult there, as is the case in the rural villages, if someone is ready to strive towards helping themselves, they can improve their conditions, through their own efforts.
She made reference to the part in the play when a primary school student brought her school report to her father, who had been presented as a heavy ‘pombe’ (traditional brew) drinker; and he was not even interested in looking at it.
Kalambwanda saw this as providing relevant teachings for residents in that immediate neighbourhood, which she was very familiar with. She also criticised her fellow women there, as not wanting to work towards their deliverance from poverty. “
For those who have such lazy habits, I’m sure when they see this product, it must touch them, which in turn will help lead them towards the realisation that they need to change their behavour,” she said.
The Village Executive Officer for Kolo Village and ward in Kondoa Rural District also agreed that the staging of this play there has brought much challenges to the residents. He was very pleased to see that it had raised the issue of the importance for villages to attend meetings, because this he identified as one of the biggest problems they have there.
He was confident that after staging this play there residents would review their action with relations to this fact. The other big factor for him concerned villagers not being inclined to educate their children, especially their daughters.
Throughout all the performances at which the ‘Daily News’ was present the troupe did not have a problem getting and keeping a crowd. It could also be seen that the efforts made to make the production more reflective of the customs and traditions of people in Dodoma Region did help entertain the audience, what is not known is to what extent one staging in an area could actually bring the people there to change their behaviour towards taking more positive action in their own development.
By IMAN MANI, Tanzania Daily News
