Forum Theatre, Disability and Corporeality: A Project on Sexuality in Zimbabwe

This article discusses Visionaries, a forum theatre project on sexuality and disability in Zimbabwe. Focus is placed on the notion of beauty and its association with myths of sexuality among disabled and non-disabled persons. The paper posits that forum theatre can be a significant site to negotiate the complexities and possibilities of disability and sexual corporeality. This article discusses Visionaries, a forum theatre production which explores the relationship between politics of corporeal beauty and sexuality in the context of disability discourses. Visionaries was devised and performed by disabled students from the University of Zimbabwe in partnership with theatre arts students from the same institution. The authors of this article were facilitators of this action research project. The sexuality of disabled people is a subject that is yet to gain sufficient attention in both academic and public spheres in a conservative Zimbabwean society. Several myths surrounding the subject complicate the matter (Chivandikwa; Matereke and Mungwini 2). The challenge then becomes one of identifying strategies of contesting stereotypical and normative constructions of physicality, while at the same time empowering the marginalised. Performance on and by disabled people has been identified as one of the strategies through which myths and stereotypes on the bodies of disabled people can be deconstructed (Kuppers and Marcus 150). Performance seems to occupy a central place in exploring, subverting, negotiating and affirming ‘the meanings of bodies’ (Kuppers, ‘Unknown Body’ 129). The central questions guiding the analysis of Visionaries are: a) What are the possibilities and complications of using forum theatre in negotiating the politics of sexual corporeality in Zimbabwe? Forum Theatre, Disability and Corporeality Platform, Vol. 7, No. 1, On Corporeality, Spring 2013 56 b) How can insights from forum theatre productions impact and benefit disabled people? The article’s contribution is in the form of three observations emerging from the analysis. First, inspired by the recognition that performance enables ‘bodies, metaphors and breaths’ to come into contact with each other (Kuppers and Marcus 151), the article argues that the simultaneous dramatisation of pain (oppression), pleasure, humour and ‘seriousness’ in forum theatre can activate participants into deep engagement and awareness of the dynamics and complexities of aspects of the sexuality of disabled people. Second, forum theatre performances can destabilise the boundary between the private and public dimensions of alternative sexual corporealities. Lastly, in the context of action research, ideas from forum theatre discussions can be ‘immediately’ implemented in the ontological realities of oppressed groups. Background and Context of the Play We had always wanted to facilitate an applied theatre project with disabled students, who are at the periphery of cultural, social and political spheres at the university. However, our efforts were met with various barriers which included the reluctance of the students to participate in theatre because at that time (2007-09) most students were out of campus residence because of serious water shortages at the university. This made it difficult to get sufficient time to participate in rehearsals. An opportunity came in 2010 when the Director of the Disability Resource Centre invited members of the Faculty of Arts to respond to specific concerns on matters affecting the academic and social lives of disabled students. At this meeting we were to respond to the question of why our department (Theatre Arts) did not recruit disabled students. While this question was factually accurate, we did not have sufficient knowledge to determine whether this was because of departmental policy. However, we seized the opportunity to invite students to collectively devise an applied theatre project which would explore possible solutions to the challenges faced by disabled students at the University. The students agreed to participate in the project. However, because of the heterogeneity of the group, it was decided to include several plays focusing on a