'When silence is no longer golden'

...A review of Misheck Banda's play 'One Passenger Silent.'

By Pius Nyondo

Imagine. Just imagine you are a young university graduate, fresh from a university abroad, and ready to begin enjoying the fruits of your diligence and perseverance. You want to settle down as a married man, after having remained faithful with yourself since childhood. You have never been in a relationship with any girl, nor have you ever engaged in sexual intercourse. And then, imagine yourself falling head-over-heals for a harlot who is HIV positive and has infected several men including your own father. Imagine.



Misheck Banda-Wrote and Directed the play.

Such is the heartrending story in 'One Passenger Silent', a recent play premeired by Mzuzu University Theatre Arts Group (MUTAG) in the Mzuzu University hall last Sunday, written and directed by Misheck Banda-a lecturer in the department of languages and literature.

Plot

The play begins with a prologue that depicts the past ugly life of Ajeedah, a helpless girl who is into prostitution because of poverty. She opens wide her legs for anyone who is ready to offer her a penny for survival regardless of financial status and class in the society. Today, Ajeedah may sleep with a Barman, tomorrow with Hon. Chifwayi, a regional governor, and the other day with Sperks Maganzi, a financial magnate. Such is her day-to-day grim struggle for survival.

Whether by mere divine intervetion or design, Sperks Maganzi offers to help Ajeedah financially as long as she will commit herself to him alone. Ajeedah accepts and her life gets transformed for the better.

But then, Sperks Maganzi goes ahead to marry Lendiwe and together they have a son, Dubai, a graduate from the University of Monrovia. Dubai, through the help of a friend Poncho wins Ajeedah's heart, and the two lovebirds plan to get married.

Things do not turn the right way though. When Dubai brings Ajeedah before his parents, Sperks Maganzi condemns the relationship-calling Ajeedah all sorts of ugly names. Actually, he does that before his young brother Snoden, who has come to beg for money. Since he sides with Dubai and Lendiwe, Sperks Maganzi drives Snoden out of his house like a thief.

Snoden does not live without a word, he and his wife Maria utter several proverbial statements which threaten Sperks Maganzi with death.

But, it seems, Sperks Maganzi still loves Ajeedah. Secretly, the two continue to meet and the latter gets pregnant. Ajeedah breaks the news of her pregnancy but Sperks Maganzi can have none of it. He 'funds' the abortion but Ajeedah decides to keep the pregnancy.

Silence is not golden

Throughout the play, which employs suspense and flashback in good measure, one actually feels he or she could help break the silence that engulfs the characters, especially Sperks Maganzi and Ajeedah, as it is the one that finally spoils the whole mood-only to leave the rest of the characters with more questions than answers.

For example, Sperks Maganzi despite knowing that his son Dubai is in love with a commercial sex worker he does not warn his son about it. On the other hand, Ajeedah knows she is pregnant for Sperks Maganzi but goes ahead to wed Dubai secretly before a money-hungry Pastor Litete of Church of Good Will. It is this silence that makes Dubai and Lendiwe get hooked in the web of HIV/AIDS.

Money minded 'Ministers of God'

Dubai seriously wants to marry Ajeedah. He seeks the advice of his friend Poncho who consults Pastor Tete Litete if he can marry his two friends through an 'emergency wedding'. Pastor Litete agrees, but at a price. He needs K35 000 to offer the service.

This, brings to the fore the money-mindedness that some allegedly 'Men of God' are championing in the country. However, the play teaches that things that receive 'blessings' from such 'unholy' hands do not actually end at a good note. For example, after blessing the marriage, Pastor Litete orders Dubai and Ajeedah to go for a honeymoon where Dubai engages in an unprotected sex and eventually gets HIV.

Political touch

In One Passenger Silent, the writer ably brings forth his commitment by addressing the evils of bootlicking or handclapping politics. Ntalimanja, the houseboy, even though he well knows that his boss Sperks Maganzi is wrong by throwing verbal garbage at his younger brother Snoden and his wife Lendiwe, he cleverly claps hands at every word his boss Sperks Maganzi utters-attracting nods from him.

This can be a lesson to politicians in the country who merely support anything that their leaders say just to remain at the helm of power.

Evil cultural practices

When Sperks Maganzi suddenly dies, the villagers accuse his young brother Snoden and his wife Maria of bewitching him. According to tradition of the village, the two are supposed to be killed. They are only saved by Sperks Maganzi's family doctor who comes to clear misconceptions at the funeral by telling the truth sorrounding Sperks Maganzi's death-he overdosed himself with Viagra-'sexpetizers'-after being told that he was HIV positive. He could not just accept his status. Had it been the family doctor did not come up, Snoden and his wife would have faced the wrath of a village custom for a crime they never committed.

Humour

The play provides a good sense of humour throughout the two and half hours of its premire. For example, when proposing to Ajeedah, Dubai, in trying to win her heart says "Am I not a citizen of this country?" When Dubai fails, Poncho who is the 'romantic adviser' to the former and finally helps in winning Ajeedah's heart argues that "men of this type [meaning Dubai's type] are in short supply." This and many other humorous lines send the audience into stitches of laughter now and again.

One passenger silent

Sperks Maganzi is dead. No one knows what has killed him until the doctor cracks the nut and exposes its contents. Before he died, Sperks Maganzi failed to accept that 'positive living is possible' after he was diagnosed HIV positive and thus opted to overdose himself with Viagra. Now, he can no longer speak and face the reality he has left behind.

Sadly, Dubai realises that Ajeedah is his foster sister as Ajeedah's mother, unknown throughout the play unveils herself during the funeral to mourn her departed husband Sperks Maganzi. Dubai and Lendiwe fear they have contracted HIV too and the former is mad at Ajeedah for she slept with him knowing she was already pregnant for his father, Sperks Maganzi. Dubai furiously rushes to his father's coffin and grabs his dead father by the shirt-front. But Sperks Maganzi is cold and stiff. He too, like Lendiwe, Ajeedah, her mother and Dubai, is a passenger. But a silent passenger.

Lows

But the play, One Passenger Silent, which soars with originality and freshness, creativity and good socio-political themes, is not without some lows. For example, in his incantations, while trying to find out whether Snoden and Maria are responsible for Sperks Maganzi's death, the witchdoctor Chakumanda uses the director's name as one of his gods. This puts off the audience, as all of a sudden, the play loses a touch of reality. The witchdoctor would have used other relevant names instead of the director's Misheck Banda. Also, while it is evident that the playwright did a good job in coming up with a great script, a few actors mess up on word pronounciation and articulation.

Theatre for development

According to Banda, the play was aimed at encouraging the audience, especially the youths, to break the silence and "beware of the silent passenger" if the dream of an HIV free generation is to be achieved.

"Multiple and concurrent sexual partnerships are dangerous, positive prevention is key. Positive living is possible, and condom use is a viable option," he advised, adding that production was funded by National Aids Commission (NAC).