I have walked along the edge of the River Thames many times over the past few years, and am fascinated always by the turmoil on the surface of the water around the pillars of the bridges when the tides change. The rise and fall can be as much as 24 feet, and take hours of struggle between ebb and flow.
As Zimbabwe confronts the results of its latest election I think of the great currents ripping beneath that country’s surface, and know that only those there can properly feel or appreciate them. I hope that in this time of flux all that is good and true in Zimbabwe will stand firm in the great swirl of its political life.
Yesterday, while Zimbabwe struggled into the murky, crocodile infested waters of vote counting, we were invited to an outdoor production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
I studied Shakespeare while at school in Zimbabwe, but his works made as much sense to me then as the European history the teachers coaxed us through. I managed to memorise enough of both subjects to pass exams, but as far as I was concerned, they may as well have come from Illyria itself. By the way, in case you’re as under-informed as I was until a few minutes ago, Illyria did exist in classical times, somewhere around Albania I think.
Anyway, back to the romantic comedy, Twelfth Night, which is set in a fictional Illyria. The production we saw was by an outdoor theatre group, also called Illyria, and the cast of five were brilliant. Their set was tiny, and their costume and character changes as swift and smooth as butter melting. It was such a funny, engrossing production, despite the night turning from hot summer, to bone cold by the end.
As we carried our picnic back to the car I wondered about the news from Zimbabwe. How were things going? This evening, as I do a little light research into Shakespeare, I am still wondering. I’ve moved on to his quotations now, and I think I’ll end with these:
“It’s not enough to speak, but to speak true” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Act 5 Scene 1)
“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none” (All’s Well That Ends Well – Act 1 Scene 2)
The Phraser 