Nonhlalo Dube comes of age

Bongani Ndlovu
When Nonhlalo Dube was young, little did she think that her dream of being a playwright would one day be her source of living as she has a company ND Productions that is acclaimed for a number of plays around the country.This is the woman behind plays such as Ben 10, Untikolotshi and Song of a Woman that touch on social issues surrounding Zimbabweans.

Dube, who set up ND productions to enhance the theatre scene in the country, said it has been a bumpy road.

a�?It hasna��t been a smooth journey but I keep pushing and focus on being good at what I do, one step at a time. Since 2013 ND Productions has produced three theatre programs under the Theatre for Everyone banner years namely Theatre for Everyone-Mammas, Theatre for Everyone-Abantwana for the childrena��s homes and Theatre for Everyone-Bulawayo a�� a monthly plays programme,a�? said Dube.

She said although being a woman in the arts for some has its own challenges she thinks all playwrights share the same problems.

a�?I think men and women playwrights face similar challenges in the theatre industry. As a theatre practitioner or producer not a woman the biggest challenge is space and funding. Spaces to run programs are expensive and we run them from our pockets. The other biggest challenge that I also faced was in 2014 when one of our funders stopped funding one of our programmes because they had stopped funding arts activities in the countrya�? said Dube.

Despite such setbacks she continues looking ahead.

a�?ND Productions will be launching Bulawayo Theatre Awards in February 2017.We want to honour all those who would have excelled in their field. In the year 2016 a total of 10 plays will be showcased, bringing the total of up to 60 or more crew and cast participants, 36 nominees and 12 winners,a�? she said.

The playwright was recently in South Africa where she was learning from other practitioners from around the continent.

I was attending the Performing Arts Network of Southern Africa (PANSA) Directors Indaba. Ita��s an Indaba/Talkshop to discuss and analyse the rate at which the industry is producing theatre directors to service the growing diversity of artistic expression in the Southern African arts and culture.

She went on to describe the pressure of balancing the arts and motherhood.

a�?Family comes first, all weekends are dedicated to my family unless if there is something important I have to do. I dona��t have a 8-5pm job and a boss to report to so Ia��m free to set my own schedule and work around it and I try to manage time well,a�? she said.

And as a student at Inyanda High School in 2004, the 26-year-old took her first steps towards achieving that dream when she wrote her first play after being inspired by a Nigerian production entitled Super story.

She wrote the script with her friend Gugulethu Ndlovu and together they took their work to renowned theatre guru Cont Mhlanga.

Mhlanga was impressed with their effort and advised them to enrol at Amakhosi Performing Arts Academy for a course in Multi-Creative Arts Communications in 2005.

a�?In my first year of studies I did a combination of theatre, film and music but later on in the second year I chose to specialise in film and theatre,a�? Dube said. .