Hifa theatre programme impressive

theatre programme featuring 16 plays with a total of 45 performances in four venues. Zimbabwe has fielded nine plays in the six-day festivals.
Other plays are coming from Germany, South Africa, Italy and Britain.
From Germany comes “Hotel Paradiso”, which is to be presented by Familie Floz and has been described as “the best German comedy troupe and German theatre’s most successful export”.
The only theatre show in the programme to carry a “parental guidance advice” tag deals with “strange things that happen at Hotel Paradiso – a time-honoured mountain resort kept alive with some difficulty by an old lady and her family”.
The play is produced by Familie Floz, Theaterhaus Stuttgat and Theatre Duisburg and will have three shows at the ZB Bank Reps Theatre on April 30 and May 1.
From Britain comes the “The Man Who Committed Thought”, which features Patrice Naiambana – “a leading actor in the Royal Shakespeare Company”.
The play will be presented at the Standard Theatre on April 26, 30 and May 1.
Also from Britain is “The Gospel of Othello”, which was “conceptualised and facilitated by Patrice Naiambana and his team of African Diaspora collaborators”.
The play was choreographed by Harold George. Juwon Ogungbe is the music director who “combines Shakespeare’s original text with poetry of Africa’s music and movement to reveal fresh ways of seeing Othello”.
The play will be presented at the Standard Theatre on April 28 and May 1.
Another British production is by Daliso Chaponda, a United Kingdom-based Malawian stand-up comedian, with a show “Laughfrica” where “he lampoons the craziest elements of African life and culture while celebrating the way in which Africa faces issues”.
Chaponda’s “Laughfrica” will have three shows at the 7 Arts Theatre, one on April 28 and two on May 1.
From South Africa comes “Paperboy” written and performed by Durban-born Grant Jacobs and directed by Liam Magner.
The play, which has been described as “comedy about self-fulfilment, ambition and truth suitable for family viewing”, has three shows at the Standard Theatre on April 27, 30 and May 1.
Another play from South Africa is “Ocean Commotion” written by Dr Pocket and directed by Jacobus van Heerden. The play will be presented at the ZB Bank Reps Theatre on April 26 and 27.
From Italy comes “Donpasta”, which has been described as “multi-media show that melts Italian Salento cuisine into a sensory experience that is once contemporary theatre, tales of an old storyteller, the adventures of a clumsy cook and the combination of a passions for food, music, ponderings and cultural reflections”.
The play has three shows at ZB Bank Reps Theatre on April 28, 29 and May 1.
Two Zimbabwean plays that will premiere at Hifa 2011 are “Colours of Dreams” and “The Comeback”, which are part of the Hifa Direct Project – “a training and mentoring initiative of Zimbabwe writers and theatre directors by British theatre practitioners Rebecca Pritchard and Tessa Walker”.
“Colours of Dreams” was written by Christopher Mlalazi and directed by Eunice Tava assisted by Elizabeth Muchemwa.
The play is scheduled for April 27 and 30 at the Standard Theatre.
“The Comeback” was written by Sifiso Mabena and directed by Leeroy Gono with the assistance of Tatenda Mangosho.
The play will presented at the Standard Theatre on April 26 and 29.
Rooftop Promotions’ production of “Rituals” that premiered in Theatre in the Park in October 2010 and won the Nama 2010 award will be presented at the Standard Theatre on April 26 and 27.
Another Zimbabwean play that will be presented at the Standard Theatre is “Accidental Death of a Radical”, an adaptation from Dario Fo’s “Accidental Death of an Anarchist”.
Produced by Theory X Lab under the guidance of Zane E. Lucas, the play has been described as “a fast-paced black satire on corruption and brutality”.
The play will be presented at the Standard Theatre on April 28 and 30.
John Pfumojena comes to Hifa 2011 in “A Diary of a Mad Man” – an adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s comic tale by Spear Theatre and directed by Elton Mjanana and Melisa Eveleigh.
Pfumojena, accompanied Tumbuka dancers, Snoden Fillmon and Maylene Chenjerai, “brings to life a feast of laughter, rage, sadness and loss in this physical adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s comic tale”.
The play will run at the ZB Bank Theatre Upstairs on April 27, 28, 29 and May 1.
Another Zimbabwean production which will be presented at the ZB Reps Theatre Upstairs is “Burn Mukwerekwere Burn” written by Blessing Hungwe and directed by Giles Ramsy.
The play will be presented on April 26, 27, 28 and 30.
Also to premiere at Hifa 2011 is “The Harare Files” featuring Tonderai Munyebvu, who was directed by Sarah Gordon.
The play will have two shows in the Standard Theatre on April 29 and 30.
Reps Theatre will present at the ZB Bank Theatre Upstairs “Jesus, My Boy”. Brief notes about the play state: “Never in history has a father been so upstaged as Joseph, husband to divine Virgin Mary, stepdad to that boy . . . it is time to redress the balance.”
The play will be presented on April 28, 29, 30 and May 1.
The last play on Zimbabwe’s list of plays for Hifa 2011 is “Whatever Happened to Betty Lemon” performed by Ashleigh May and directed by Michael Bawden.
This is a most exciting and formidable line of theatre.
It is not a programme just for a theatre-loving audience but for every theatre practitioner who learns from seeing what others have written, directed and performed.
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