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Nyoni's "The Button Box" comes to Harare
Tinashe Sibanda, The Standard (Zimbabwe)
May 27, 2012

View this article on The Standard website

One day, after overhearing someone talking about paying a visit to the New Start Centre, one creative Bulawayo-based poet, playwright and director, Mgcini Nyoni, got an idea for his latest play, titled The Button Box. His imagination and creativity saw him hinging his script on the question: "Have you indulged in any risky sexual behaviour recently?"

The hour-long play, which follows the story of an unnamed prostitute who collects a button from each of her clients for casual records, will be staged in Harare for the first time from June 19 to 21 at the Alliance Française.

It has had two runs in Bulawayo.

"As a writer, I do not provide answers, neither do I prescribe anything for those who can relate their own stories to the play, but I just tell the story and hope people will be provoked into a debate enough to come up with their answers," said Nyoni.

He said the woman in the story was deliberately unnamed as the story related to any other woman who had been a victim of sexual abuse or has had to use sex as a means of survival or to get out of sticky situations.

A man's button represented pain, confusion and suffering that was associated with each sexual encounter.

"The play will be staged at several venues in Harare before it travels to Malawi for the Mwezi Wawala Festival in August and it will also be later staged during the Intwasa Festival in Bulawayo."

Nyoni, who has played an active role in various poetry performances and contributed in various poetry publications, has also produced and directed other interesting stage plays including Poetic Journey, The Really Stupid Things Men Say, Soneni and Run.

Nyoni: A man of many talents

The multi-talented writer also has skills in film and television.

In 2007 he wrote and produced the short film Who Am I and wrote two episodes for the Women Film Makers of Zimbabwe's television drama, Miss Rhythmix. He also wrote a feature film Bubble for the South African company Noes Strategic Business Engineering. He is currently the Bulawayo coordinator for the annual International Images Film Festival.

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