Zimpapers Logo

Angela Sibanda, Showbiz Reporter

Eveline High School is set to host an Advanced Level Literature in English set book drama première this Friday as a way of helping pupils understand literature in preparation for examinations.

Pupils from different schools are expected to gather at the local girls’ school for a performance-based workshop that will help them understand the book, The Rain of My Blood by George Mujajati.

The performance-based learning workshop will be organised by Centre for Talent Development (CTD), a theatre organisation that has mandated itself to enhance the quality of education through theatre performances.

CTD project co-ordinator Thabani Moyo, who is also a teacher at the school said teaching learners through the dramatisations of set books has proven to be effective. 

“This learning and teaching method has proven to be popular with both teachers and learners.

Students come to interact with the material they are reading in class in a performance format that stimulates almost all their senses and makes them fully engaged in the learning process.

Performance-based workshops have made learning enjoyable, but above all, effective,” Moyo said. 

He said the novel is centred on the lives of Zimbabweans under the oppressive white rule which treated black people like animals.

“The Rain of My Blood is a play that moves between colonial Rhodesia and post-Independent Zimbabwe.

It focuses on capitalist injustices that occurred in these two historic periods.

The Sanderson family that runs the Altena Farm represents the interest of colonial capitalism.

Black workers are treated as bloodless and are driven to work long hours. 

“When they grow old, they are thrown out of the farm because they have become worthless.

This is how the play revisits the unjust colonial system.

The play goes on to show how the education system was skewed to reinforce the colonial injustices.

“It also puts the spotlight on post-independence Zimbabwe.

It pits the attitude of the black affluent against the ex-combatants who are languishing in poverty.

In post-Independent Zimbabwe, we have blacks who seem to have taken the place of the colonialists and are out to oppress and suppress their kith and kin.

These are represented by Alex, played by Nkosi Mpofu,” said Moyo. 

The event that is expected to be attended by students and teachers from in and outside Bulawayo will also be used as a discussion and analysis point where attendants will interrogate themes, characterisation, style, and other issues which will come up from the play.