These funny, sad and often poetic letters have now become the basis for a new play, Yours Abundantly, From Zimbabwe, which opens at the Oval Theatre in south London on September 30th 2008 for 3 weeks.
After a visit in 2002, Plowman started writing to one youngster she had met and sending money to pay for his schooling (£5 a term) The letters started to grow: letters from desperate people who were dying, letters from other children, letters from con artists. Over the years she watched children grow up, and watched them die: at 22 one of them is the oldest in his village.
The letters form the basis of a poignant and heartbreaking tale set against the backdrop of Operation Murambatsvina and a tyrannical Robert Mugabe’s ever-increasing abuse of power.
Plowman is the author of over 25 plays including the critically acclaimed Me and My Friend. This new this work combines beauty, compassion and humour in a play about Zimbabwe from a British perspective. It questions the nature of beneficent liberalism, reveals a truth about how the West relates to global issues and unpicks where western guilt, philanthropy and self-interest meet. – Tickets £12 (£6 concessions) Box Office 020 7582 7680 or www.ovalhouse.com
Pse make prominent – Readers of The Zimbabwean readers may purchase 2 tickets for the very special price of just £6: please quote ZIM’ when booking
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