Inter Press Service - October 21, 2002
James Hall

A production called 'Theatre under the trees' is drawing enthusiastic audiences who stay on after the show to take part in animated discussions with the trained actors who call themselves Sibahle Nje, which in the SiSwati language means "we are truly beautiful".

Swazi audiences know this loving self-description refers to them and not to the performers and their many popular productions. The group has adapted the age-old African practice of storytelling to take modern messages of gender equality and human rights to urban and rural audiences much to the delight of Swaziland's health and social welfare workers.

"What we do is not just entertainment, it is educational theatre. But we have a lot of fun," says the director, Simneke Magagula.

Sibahle Nje is a 10-member group; five female and five male, between their 20s and 40s. Most have had personal experience of the themes they play.

"We tell people how to avoid HIV infection. Many of us have lost friends and relatives to AIDS," says Magagula. Tiny Swaziland has the world's second highest rate of HIV-infection. It is estimated that 34 percent of its adult population of 500,000 (half of the kingdom's people are below the age 18) is either HIV-positive or living with AIDS.

Audrey is one of the actors in a production that is aimed at stopping sexual abuse. "I was sexually abused by my uncle when I was a small girl," she says. "When we enact the story about child rape, I feel it much more personally," she adds with a passion that reflects her commitment to breaking the silence around the socially-ignored practice of child abuse.

Child sexual abuse is a serious problem in Swaziland. At the beginning of this year the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) reported that the number of cases of abuse and incest among children that its counsellors were handling has increased by as much as 50 percent from a year ago.

One way that the practice of abuse can be ended is by teaching girls that they have a right to say no to sexual advances. Quite often they think that they are obliged to agree to the sexual demands of male relatives. In Swaziland, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has been trying to counter the practice through an education programme on the rights of the child.

Alan Brody, the country director, has penned a short skit to address the rampant problem of child sexual abuse. He says the story idea originated from discussions he held with church groups and child welfare workers who felt the best way to disseminate the message was at traditional community meetings. Such meetings are called by chiefs or royal authorities, or by Swazis themselves to address local problems, and are a means of communication in the kingdom.

The medium of theatre was chosen over printed material to take social messages to the community because levels of adult illiteracy and dropouts among schoolchildren are high due to reasons of poverty and under-development in Swaziland.

In Brody's 'Mr Snake Meets his Match' which is performed by Sibahle Nje, the main characters are animals. "Child abuse is such a sensitive subject that we sought to use animals to tell the tale, and we found this makes a controversial subject like sex acceptable to conservative adults as well," Brody explains. The theme of the play is the rights of individuals.

"We use allegory, and each character is an animal who represents some human trait," says actor Skumbusa Matsebula, who plays the lead role of a snake that seduces the daughter in the Rock Rabbit family. "This is fun for us, and the audiences respond well, especially the children, who are the primary audience for the message."

Smooth talking Mr. Snake comes from the city, corrupts the Rock Rabbit family by convincing the father it is "custom" for him to sleep with his niece, and then tries to persuade the daughter to leave for the city with him. He meets his match when the girl sees through his seduction, and rejects him before she is devoured.

UNICEF has published the story as colourful booklets, which are distributed among the audience at the shows. Some 15,000 of these were given to Swazi girls who had gathered for the annual Reed Dance at Ludzidzini royal village in August to pay tribute to the Queen Mother. They watched a performance of 'Mr. Snake' and participated in the discussion that followed.

Sipho Mdeni, a warrior who guards the girls on their trips to collect reeds before the traditional event, was in the audience. "I wanted to hit that Mr. Snake with my club. I wanted to protect that girl. I hope I don't get into trouble for saying this, but these problems come from men's attitudes towards Swazi women," he said.

Sibahle Nje's productions are generally held in the open, under trees. "We have performed under all sorts of conditions, even at night with a campfire as our stage lighting," says Cynthia Dube, in her 20s who generally plays the role of an old woman, bent with age.

The discussions that always follow every show can get quite lively. "It does not take long before people start relating the story to their own experiences, and the animal characters to people they know," says director Magagula.

Sometimes members of the audience act out the scenes as they talk. "We Swazis are performers, we are good mimics," Cynthia laughingly says. "This comes from our customary education. Our elders teach children through fables. Children learn to imitate the animals all around them. The SiSwati language is very musical, because of its emotional inflections."

Swazi NGOs and agencies like UNICEF sponsor Sibahle Nje's shows. "This is also a way to bring theatre to rural communities that have never seen a production," says Magagula.

Thanks to the group, what Swazis are seeing is more than entertainment. There are sophisticated messages disguised as folktales that inform about human rights and other issues, and may ultimately change some of the viewers' lives.(END/IPS/HR/HE/JH/AN/02)

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