Leslie Nunu
2 August 2008
Veteran playwright Cont Mhlanga aims to scale new heights with his first ever comedy production that will be released on Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) soon.
The play, Omshana which features veteran actor Thembi Ngwabi who plays the character "Gogo", is about two cousins sharing a room at a house they inherited from their grandmother.
They also share the same lover.
Maseven, played by Israel Mutombeni, is sent on a wild goose chase to South Africa by his cousin Mporodo (Leonard Phiri) to look for the girl he is in love with, Baby Giant (Thithibele Phiri).
The hunt for the woman he never gets the chance to meet again is full of hilarious twists and turns.
While still on the hunt Maseven finds a job as a gardener, but is forced to return to Zimbabwe following attacks on foreigners by angry South African mobs. But not before he catches the eye of his employer who discovers that he has talent in producing music.
Maseven manages to return to South Africa after securing a work permit so that he can return to work legally.
Speaking to Standardplus, Mhlanga said the show required the actors to improvise. The play also pokes fun at political developments in the country.
The comedy was prompted by an observation that Zimbabweans were "too stressed" about the economic and political situation in the country.
"The comedy is a short story about deception and it requires the actors to improvise as we decided to follow current issues," Mhlanga said. "It's a simple story written by distressed people."
If the sitcom is well received it will be screened on ZTV in September.
Mhlanga is well known for producing the popular television soap Amakorokoza, currently off air after he clashed with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings' management.
Screening of the soap was stopped in June, one episode into its new season after Mhlanga protested that the government-controlled broadcaster was taking advantage of its popularity to campaign for President Robert Mugabe's re-election.
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