adminOf the eight plays in the programmes, four were featured at Harare International Festival of the Arts 2011.
These are “Burn Mukwerekwere Burn”, “The Comeback”, “The Gospel of Othello” and “Colour of Dreams”, were sold out many days before the opening of Hifa.
One hopes therefore that Bulawayo theatre lovers have been enthusiastic enough to ensure sold out shows of all the eight plays in the festival. Such a response will encourage the organisers of Intwasa to hunt for more international plays and to ensure that Zimbabwean plays that premier at Hifa and other festivals continue to constitute the backbone of their theatre programme.
“Colours of Dreams” which was written by Christopher Mlalazi and directed by Eunice Tava with the assistance of Elizabeth Muchemwa, is a story of a “school teacher, a former money changer and their wives. When the economy of the country has collapsed along with their dreams, a rumour ignites their dreams and their fears and the future”.
This hilarious comedy which is supported by the British Council will be presented at Njube Hall today and at the Bulawayo Theatre tomorrow.
One of the two Bulawayo productions is “Drums” where the “story of drums is turned into an explosive and moving narrative of peace and reconciliation”.
The play which was written and directed by Lewis Phiri and is supported by the Alliance Francaise de Bulawayo will also be presented at Njube Hall.
The other Bulawayo production is one of Wole Soyinka’s well known comedies “The Lion and the Jewel” which is this year’s O’ level set book. Its last performance at the Bulawayo Theatre will be on today at 2pm.
“Burn Mukwerekwere Burn” written and directed by Blessing Hungwe is scheduled for Bulawayo Theatre at noon tomorrow and for Newsday Stage at 6pm on Saturday.
This play which is set in South Africa is not only a “dark and disturbing story of the evils of xenophobia but is also a vivid illustration of how dreams by Zimbabweans on how to make it big in the city of gold are butchered”.
This is a play that solicits very emotional response from the audience while portraying the resilience of the Zimbabwean youths who trek into the diaspora driven by the desire to market their innovative entrepreneurship and the self-reliance zeal through very honest means of earning income.
Another magnificent production is “The Comeback” written by Sifiso Mabhena and directed by Leeroy Gono.
Supported by the British Council the play deals with a story of “Eli who returns from the UK to rediscover herself and to touch base with her roots after a miserable and rather unsuccessful stint abroad”.
The first foreign play is “The Gospel of Othello” which is an entry from the United Kingdom. The play which was “conceptualised and facilitated by Patrice Naiambana” has been described as “a dark and thought provoking drama that highlights the predicament of exile in Shakespeare’s story of love, betrayal and outsiderness”.
Performances will be presented at the Bulawayo Theatre today at 2.30pm as well as on Saturday at 7pm.
The second foreign production is “Rufino’s Wife” written by Mulenga Kapwepwe and directed by Charles Tembo.
Kapwepwe is one of Zambia’s leading playwrights and prominent cultural activist who chairs the Board of the National Arts Council of Zambia and the Arterial Network. A brief note about the play states: “A wife cannot belong to two men. But what if she does. In the face of the new phenomenon of long absences due to war and forced labour in the mines many questions suddenly beg an answer.”
“Rufino’s Wife” will be presented at Bulawayo Theatre today and at the Stanley Hall on Saturday at 7pm.
Last but not least is “The Debt” from Botswana. Bopoganang Basha Theatre presents the play, which is written and directed by Lionel Nkosi.
This is a “poignant story about Africa’s debt situation seen through the life of a poor villager hounded to death by debtors”.
The play will be presented at the Stanley Hall tonight at 7pm and at the Bulawayo Theatre on Sunday at 7pm.
Support to Intwasa 2010 has also come from the City of Bulawayo, which has provided its spacious car park at the town house as one of the festival’s major venue.
This support is an indication that the city fathers and mothers do appreciate the importance of arts festivals in the development of viable cultural industries in the city.
Critical support has also come from the National Arts Council, Delta Corporation, Hivos, the Norwegian Embassy, Newsday, Culture Fund of Zimbabwe, Embassy of the United States of America, Bulawayo Rainbow Hotel and Plan Zimbabwe among others.
Intwasa festival demonstrated by its theatre programmes this year that arts festivals in different parts of Zimbabwe can be a source of guaranteeing long life to Zimbabwean theatre productions.
It is hoped therefore that other arts festivals in Mutare, Mutoko, Hwange, Masvingo, Gwanda, Chinhoyi, Rushinga, Victoria Falls, Gweru and Rushinga will enhance their values by ensuring that plays that have been
premiered at Hifa and Intwasa are also featured in these festivals.
If this is done properly and if corporate and public sponsorship is garnered, each of these festivals become a microcosm of the national arts festival that was mooted by the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture at the beginning of this year.
National arts festivals that are held once a year at one place tend to pose logistic challenges that make them very expensive and are dominantly patronised by the artists themselves without the capacity to grow general public audiences.
This is why state and corporate sector support of annual festivals in provinces and districts that are initiated and organised by the creative civil society should be regarded as the best strategy in festival promotion.
This strategy also ensures that state and corporate support to the arts and culture is evenly distributed through ten or more provincial arts festivals each year.
It is also essential that respective city and rural councils adopt and subsidise sufficiently arts festivals that become the highpoint of annual celebration of the rich cultural diversity in cities, towns and growth points.
These festivals would in themselves become best practices in the implementation of the Convention on the 2005 Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expression as well as the 2003 Convention on the Safeguarding on the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Online Reporter