Source: Tanzania Daily News
FOR the first time last Tuesday evening the Morogoro Municipal Council Cultural Officer, Martha Kidyala, joined residents of Morogoro to watch a play at the Mji Mpya Ward grounds.

It was the first public staging of the latest production by the drama group, Tanzania Community Civic Initiatives (TACCI) called "Kuamka Sasa (Wake up now). The Dar es Salaam based troupe, had come with a 60-minute play.

The previous evening the group did a dress rehearsal in front of an independent team made up of experts in the area of theatre and people knowledgeable of the region's problems and politics. A few adjustments were suggested and the director of the group, Dr Augustin Hatar accommodated the changes.

Cultural Officer, Ms Kidyala told the 'Star' she considers drama as an important medium in educating members of the community. Watching the production she noticed that the use of songs, dance and speech, proved to be more effective in delivering messages, judging from the audience's reaction, than miming.

Ms Kidyala added, "The play touched on issues familiar to the audience For example a mother in the play carried two children and a heavy load on her head after being kicked out by her in-laws from the house she had built with her husband, who had recently passed away," she added.

The cultural officer believes the drama troupe will get larger crowds when they go to the rural areas because the people there appreciate traditional drumming and songs, as featured in the play.

A resident, Peter Jonas, who watched the play at Mji Mpya told the 'Star' he found the play very educative. Personally he was impressed to see how the actors depicted the issue of gender based violence. This got him to re-examine his previously held belief that wife beating is okay.

Halima Salum, a single mother with two children said she noted the importance of parents making sure their children go to school and not spend too much of their time sleeping. She confirmed that she knows people in the community who fit the characters portrayed in the play.

Her colleague, Aziza Issa, a mother of three children said her husband ran away after she gave birth to their third child. For her the play presented real situations and has made her think more about her responsibilities towards bringing up her children, despite the fact she now has to do it alone.

Another person spoken to after the performance was Regina Ngwandu, who originates from Mara Region. She thought the play was good because she learnt a lot in regards to the need for people to wake up and start being active, right from attending community meetings.

Similar views were expressed by one of the members of the reviewing committee at the dress rehearsal a primary school teacher, Victoria Kibua.

Ms Kibua told the 'Star' that she found the production very good. "One of the things that really interested me was to see how the play brought-out the situation whereby villagers drift into idleness, which finally leads to falling asleep, while expecting other people solve their problems.

From the push people got from this play, they will come out to be more active in development issues in the community as the play showed them what they need to do," Ms Kibua explained.

• Tanzania