The Two Gentlemen of Verona performed in Shona is a much-welcome and entertaining celebration of the Zimbabwean language.
London-based Zimbabweans unable to journey home for the recent Harare International Festival of the Arts, came out in force instead last week to enjoy the Shona offering at the Globe to Globe festival.
At the festival - in which 37 Shakespeare plays are being performed in 37 different languages - Africa is represented by plays in Shona, Swahili, Juba Arabic, Yoruba and 'South African' - the Globe's catch-all term for the combination of Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Setswana and Afrikaans spoken by Cape Town's Isango Ensemble in the festival's opening play.
The Two Gents
The Shona interpretation of Shakespeare's 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona', was an energetic story of love, friendship, and betrayal performed by the endlessly entertaining double-act of Denton Chikura and Tonderai Munyevu. When best friends Valentine and Proteus fall for the same woman, the result is a tortured plot of disguise, deceit and the absurd actions of love.
Using the art of 'township' theatre - the style of black South African drama that arose amidst a lack of theatrical space in townships during apartheid - the duo engage the standing audience without the help of scenery and using hardly any props. Simply by altering their voices, movements, and a few items of clothing, the Two Gents weave in and out of a total of 15 characters. A trunk, one of the few props used in the production, becomes at different times a bath tub, a hotel reception desk, and a car.
Having been involved in this production for four years, the pair demonstrate a practiced assurance with their characters and have the confidence to push audience expectations. The shared kiss between Chikura as 'Julia' and Munyevu's 'Proteus' is a perfect example, drawing shocked gasps from Zimbabweans in the audience.
Chikura and Munyevu have the comfortable energy and intuition of a couple who can finish each other's sentences, giving them a playful comic timing that managees to hold the audience's attention for over two hours, despite performing in a language the majority of the onlookers do not understand. In fact, the Two Gents embrace rather than resist this barrier. They tease the audience in conversations aimed in turn at Shona and non-Shona speakers. Shona-speaking Zimbabweans are privileged to understand the more nuanced jokes embedded in the complex turns of Shona phrase, cultural references, and confessions of forgotten lines. But the duo also make sure non-Shona-speakers remain captivated through the physicality of the comedy, the occasional breaks into English, frequent interaction with spectators, and the ease with which the actors revel in the multitude of characters.
It is testament to the versatility and quality of Chikura and Munyevu that they are able to tell a story of love and friendship that is heard by all, while simultaneaously engaging in a more subtle dialogue with Zimbabweans about shared stories of separation from loved ones in the name of exile and personal allegiance.
While not featured in the festival, Chikura and Munyevu also re-interpret other Shakespearean dramas through their London-based theatre company, Two Gents Productions, in which they draw on themes of migration, displacement and their Zimbabwean background in plays such as 'Kupenga Kwa Hamlet' and 'Magetsi'.
Shakespearean Shona
While the Zimbabweans welcomed the opportunity to indulge in a small piece of home, the play also gave celebration to African language which tends not to be admired in the same way as European or Asian languages, even by Africans themselves.
While a student in Zimbabwe, the high school I attended forbade students from speaking Shona except in Shona class. And when the government attempted to make Shona a compulsory GCSE subject, black and white students as well as their parents expressed outrage. It was common for many of us, including myself, to read, write and speak better French than Shona, despite never having visited France.
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The exhilaration with which both Shona-speaking and non-Shona-speaking members of the audience enjoyed The Two Gents reinforces not only people's abilities to connect across language barriers, but also their willingness to do so. Pride in language may be automatic for those fortunate enough to take it for granted, but for some it is something still being learnt. And as the production demonstrated, Shona-speakers may still be learning to have this pride, but they are learning it energetically, loudly and triumphantly.
For more information on upcoming performances by The Two Gents, click here. For more information on The Globe to Globe Festival which continues until June 9, click here.
