Mhlanga, who is represented by human rights lawyer, Kucaca Phulu of Coghlan and Welsh legal firm, is also scheduled to file a law suit against Home Affairs minister Kembo Mohadi, Police Commisioner Augustine Chihuri and respective police command structures within the Bulawayo Provincial Police for loss of business.
It costs money to produce plays and some of these uncalled for decisions affect our market and projected revenues, a fiery Mhlanga said. We will not be intimidated and silenced by overzealous police who don’t even care to read the scripts nor see the plays.
Mhlanga is seeking court protection in stopping the police from interfering with his plays, now and in the future.
The controversial playwright wants the court to order that the three plays: The Good President, written and directed by Mhlanga and produced by Daves Gusha; Everyday Soldier written by Raisedon Baya, directed by Mhlanga and produced by Joshua Nyampimbi and; Overthrown written by Stanley Makuwe and directed and produced by Mhlanga; be allowed to continue their runs.
Mhlanga says the court should bring to the attention of police that legally, they cannot use the tough security law, the Public Order and Security Act, to stop the staging of a play.
We hope the court will grant the order so that theatre – which has come
under siege from the police this year – can be protected as an art form and as an employer of creative people, Mhlanga said. We want to protect the right of the audiences to enjoy entertainment of their choice.
The notorious riot police have been deployed to scuttle earlier premières of the plays. Often, excessive force has been used to break the gatherings.
Mhlanga also wants the High Court to interdict police from demanding scripts of his plays.
Law and Order police officers last month ransacked Mhlanga’s office at Amakhosi Theater and seized the script for the play Everyday Soldier. The script was returned after a court order, but heavily edited and some parts blanked out.
Conflicts between artists’ free speech and authorities are not uncommon, and some disputes have reached the Supreme Court, which has generally ruled in favor of the authorities’ right to regulate speech. The Supreme Court has upheld the authority of government to ban vulgar or offensive speech against President Mugabe and to control the content of newspapers.
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Post published in: News