{"id":468,"date":"2023-11-27T13:20:50","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T13:20:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elainedesmondwriter.ie\/?page_id=468"},"modified":"2023-12-03T00:53:16","modified_gmt":"2023-12-03T00:53:16","slug":"a-footprint-of-roses","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/elainedesmondwriter.ie\/index.php\/a-footprint-of-roses\/","title":{"rendered":"A Footprint of Roses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A Footprint of Roses
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– A Play by Elaine Desmond<\/p>\n\n\n

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Cast of “A Footprint of Roses” UCC School of Drama At the Amnesty International Conference, Cork
\u00a9 Elaine Desmond <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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<\/strong>Excerpt from A Footprint of Roses<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

GRACE: Don\u2019t you think it strange how we each of us is born into a particular time and place without a choice?  Then, after that, there\u2019s nothing but choices.  Let me ask you, if it could have been your choice – where you were born, I mean – where would you have opted for?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CONSTANCE: (HESITATES): It would always be Zimbabwe.  I\u2019m proud to be Zimbabwean.  It just shouldn\u2019t be like this \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GRACE: (PATS HER HAND): I know.\u00a0 Believe me, I know.\u00a0 But this is your place \u2013 where your life will make a difference.\u00a0 Think of the most enormous revolution you can imagine \u2013 if you look harder, you\u2019ll see it was made up of billions of tiny changes.\u00a0 It will come.\u00a0\u00a0 We must just do what we can do and be patient.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About A Footprint of Roses<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The play explores the plight of the women of WOZA (Women of Zimbabwe Arise), a women\u2019s civil movement in Zimbabwe.\u00a0 The women of WOZA protested each Valentine\u2019s Day against the civil rights abuses they were enduring under Mugabe\u2019s rule. They handed out roses as a symbol of their loving and peaceful intentions, but were often beaten and imprisoned by the police at Mugabe\u2019s behest. I volunteered for Amnesty International when I lived in Dublin and was a member of the Zimbabwe group.\u00a0 We carried out advocacy work to highlight the human rights abuses occurring under Mugabe. Jenni Williams, WOZA\u2019s leader and recipient of the US government\u2019s International Women of Courage Award in 2007, sent a videoed message of thanks for the play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECORDING: Molesworth Hall, Dublin, 2008  <\/strong>
Filmed in three parts by Instigator Films<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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