Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Nigerian Bode Asiyanbi has been announced as the winner of the 2011 Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ African Performance playwriting competition.

It is the second time he has won the accolade - he was selected as the winner in 2005.

This year's winning play is entitled Shattered and it addresses the subject of rape.

It exposes in a powerful way the silence that often surrounds this crime, when victims are often reluctant to come forward and disclose what has happened to them - especially when the perpetrator is a friend of the family.

This year's judge, Ugandan American actor and writer Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine said, "Shattered, for me, was the most layered story technically speaking and the most suspenseful.

"Each page introduced something that really made you want to know what happens next.

"It dealt with a theme that is being wrestled with not just on the African continent but globally, and it did it in a way that wasn't preaching or condescending, it did it in a way that shed light and heart on what is a complex issue."

On receiving the news, Bode Asiyanbi was jubilant, "I'm going to scream this whole bank down" he said after being telephoned at his workplace.

He had previously entered five times before winning in 2005, then he kept getting the urge to write and so entered a further two times.

"It's not an easy thing to do" he said, "and to be lucky a second time, words are hopelessly inadequate to express how I'm feeling."

In second place, our judge selected Silhouettes by Africa Ukoh from Jos, in Plateau State, Nigeria.

It tells the tale of a Nigerian actor who gets a chance to act in a Hollywood blockbuster movie, however the work on set does not go quite as he had planned.

In joint third place, our judge unknowingly chose two plays from East Africa.

38 Years Ago by Don Mrabu Vigodi from Kenya and Damned Seconds by Pamela Otali from Uganda.

38 Years ago tells the tale of an unexpected reunion between a father and son, while Damned Seconds explores issues of polygamy and single parenthood.

The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ African Performance season will be broadcast in September 2011.