• Zambia
    2006 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • Stage Fright!

      Full-costume Bible dramas remain among the most popular convention features. Each participant takes seriously his responsibility to convey his character’s emotions, and few Zambians have a reputation for underacting. Frank Lewis, a former missionary and now a member of the United States Bethel family, recalls: “We did not have the early dramas on tape. The brothers who played the various parts had to memorize their lines. I remember going to one assembly in the Northern Province where we had our first drama, which was about Joseph. Well, since the mail was a bit slow and the manuscript had not reached the brothers, we had to work late into the night trying to help the brothers memorize their lines. When the drama was presented, we came to the scene where Potiphar’s wife screamed to her husband that Joseph had tried to rape her. At that point, the brother playing Potiphar developed stage fright and walked off. I was backstage prompting the brothers and saw him coming off the stage. I quickly reminded him of his first few lines and pushed him back on the stage. He then in a very fine way blurted out his words of contempt for this man who stood accused of attempted rape! Though this was a near mishap for our convention, every time I read the Bible account, I think: ‘Perhaps it was that way. Perhaps Potiphar in anger left the room, composed himself, and then returned to denounce Joseph!’”

      In 1978 when a four-year government ban restricting the size of assemblies and conventions was eased, the “Victorious Faith” Convention presented a challenge. A former traveling overseer recalls: “At that convention we staged all the dramas we couldn’t have in previous years when we were forced to meet in Kingdom Halls. The convention lasted five days, and we had five dramas, one each day. We caught up with all the dramas we had missed! It was really nice but challenging for the Bethel representative who had to review all those dramas. It was quite a lot of work!”