THE Children's Performing Arts Workshop (Chipawo) last Saturday staged this year's production of its annual Christmas Show play at the Zimbabwe College of Music. A fascinating performance that brought together more than 100 children on stage, this year's play is titled Christmas Street.

It is set on a street of a high-density suburb in Harare on Christmas Day.

The play depicts the merry mood of Christmas and the various scenes that are common on such a day.

Leading the proceedings and playing the role of narrator is the Spirit of Christmas embodied in young talented actor Ruva Chinembiri who takes viewers through the scenes.

The Spirit of Christmas begins with the introduction of the Gwere family as the mother of the homestead is seen sweeping the yard as is the norm in most high-density suburbs every morning.

Mai Gwere is joined by her two daughters who come out to play with the merry mood of Christmas written all over their faces while other women from the neighbourhood also start sweeping their yards.

The women intermittently call each other over to the fence for a word or two in conversations punctuated with loud laughter -- these are the notorious gossipers of the ghetto.

Such is the beginning of the Christmas Day on this street where comic and sad scenes unfold as the day progresses.

Some of the sights include Sunday school children singing on their way to church, boys playing with a plastic ball, young men gambling in a solitaire game (makasa), men staggering their way home after a night of partying and a church service that takes place at a chapel down the street.

Children on the street explode with joy at the sight of Father Christmas who showers them with sweets before inviting them to follow and sing with him.

The excitement of putting on new clothes and showing off overwhelms most of the children but those that are not fortunate enough to have some are left disappointed.

Many other interesting scenes take place in the church while an evening youth bash seals Christmas Day on Christmas Street.

The play is 75 minutes' fusion of music and dance.

Good marimba players and talented dancers spice up every scene in a refreshing way.

Christmas Street will be screened on ZTV on Christmas Day next year.

Last year's play Sindile will be screened this Christmas.

Chipawo programmes manager Chipo Basopo said the play had been built from the children's ideas of what they see and experience during Christmas.

"The ideas were brought together and Chipawo staff crafted a script for the play.

"We were in camp with the children for seven days doing serious rehearsals in Mbare," she said.

"It was interesting to see how these children, brought from different backgrounds managed to merge their efforts to come up with this exciting production.

"It is usually difficult to work with such a large group of children but we managed them very well and came up with a polished play in just a week."

She said the children, who are aged between four and 20 years, were drawn from Chipawo centres in Harare, Chitungwiza, Norton and Bindura.

Chipawo director Robert McLaren said their Christmas plays had done well in the past.

Sindile, which was performed last year, had about 90 young actors who presented a local adaptation to the popular fairy tale, Cinderella.

The annual Christmas shows started in 1995 and McLaren says the plays are important to Chipawo inasmuch as they are valuable to its audience.

"The Christmas Show of Chipawo not only aims to provide an entertaining and enjoyable Christmas experience for its family audience, it also tries to do this by presenting the Christmas material with a difference - a Zimbabwean difference.

"Christmas and its stories are presented in an African and Zimbabwean idiom," McLaren said.