Zimbabwe outlaws satirical play

The Zimbabwe crisis provides lots of material for satirists

A Zimbabwean satirical play about an unnamed African country ruled by an out-of touch president has been banned.

Super Patriots and Morons features fuel queues and food shortages, both common problems in Zimbabwe.

The play's producer Daves Guzha told the BBC that he planned to appeal and might also go to the courts against the Zimbabwe Censorship Board.

Mr Guzha denied that the play was about Zimbabwe but said a society must be able to laugh at itself.

"Is this a question of art imitating life or life imitating art?" Mr Guzha said.

'Freedom frustrated'

Mr Guzha said the play had already been performed 20 times last year in Harare.

The censorship board has not explained why it banned the play.

Zimbabwe is not the first country to have petrol shortages

The president in the play feels that he does not know what the people are thinking, so he sends out an official to find out.

The official finds that the people are complaining about shortages of fuel and food.

But Mr Guzha said that Zimbabwe was not the only African country to have suffered from such problems.

"It's a sad development. It's all about freedom of expression in what is supposed to be a democracy, which is being frustrated," said Shepherd Mutamba, a spokesman for Rooftop Promotions, which produced the play.

But he said that the current situation in Zimbabwe, where people have to haggle for cigarettes and sweets, provides excellent material for satirists.

"It's an opportunity for any creative mind to put together material," he told BBC News Online.