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Raisedon Baya
BULAWAYO arts lovers who were momentarily disappointed by the cancellation of the annual Ibumba Arts Festival quickly found solace in Intwasa Extra held in December 2017. Most patrons that attended the Intwasa Extra felt the four-day event should be turned into an annual event to serve as an alternative to the festive season entertainment programming that always focuses on music and the club scene.
Intwasa Extra had a diverse programme in line with main festival’s main objective of celebrating human and creative diversity. The December event included theatre, comedy, poetry and music. The six events that were part of the Extra were high quality products that saw many audiences leaving the venues satisfied and pleading with organisers for the event to be an annual event.
The 2017 Extra was not the first for Intwasa. Some four years ago Intwasa held the first edition of Intwasa Extra, though it was not as successful as the 2017 edition. The highlight of Extra was obviously Tariro Negitare’s mind blowing performance during the Women, Wine and Words event. The Harare-based musician is a natural entertainer and many that watched her left the venue singing nothing but her praises. The singer is an entertainer par excellence.
Another highlight was the play The Arrangement which saw brilliant performances from the young cast led by the vastly talented Charmaine Mudau and Elton Sibanda. (Both are products of Lupane State University, Nhimbe Trust’s acting class and Centre For Talent Development project). Other cast members included Chipo Mawarire who produced what was the surprise performance of 2017. Chipo Mawarire is known for her technical abilities. She is probably the only female lighting technician in Bulawayo and a product of the University of Zimbabwe. Stanley Mapfumo, with Bulawayo Polytechnic’s motor mechanic department also gave a stellar performance in play.
Ihloka, written by Thabani Hilary Moyo, directed by Matesu Dube and performed by the well-travelled Umkhathi Theatre did not disappoint. It continued to ask uneasy questions, making part of the audience nervous and uneasy. But then that is the purpose of good theatre. To ask questions that ordinary people don’t ask. To make people uneasy. Based on the historical episode about the Ndebele uprising it had people asking whether it was again encouraging an uprising by the Ndebele — something the writer of the play laughs off. Many people that came out of the theatre had different interpretations of the play. Again reflective of what a good play ought to do. Leave people wondering what it is all about.
The comedy was epic and the young comic MaForty stole the show. His jokes were current and on point. He came in and delivered his set in less than 10 minutes. But he raised the bar too high that even established comics failed to reach. Carl Joshua Ncube, Doc Vickela and Ntando Van Moyo had good jokes but the crowd expected more — more surprises, more new jokes. The poetry session lived to its billing as the biggest poetry event in the city (and perhaps in the country). 12 young poets battled it out for a prize under the theme “My New Zim Vision”. Mitchell Moyo walked away with the first prizes of $75 while Roy Sibanda and Laura Mbeve were second and third respectively. Poet Asah and Madzitateguru as guest poets blew the more than 150 people in the audience away with their beautiful and seamless poetry.
The play Walk With Me by Mgcini Nyoni was a brave attempt. Another young cast bravely articulating serious issues about women and womanhood.
The strength of the presentation was the poetic language in which the several stories were woven. Kudos to Mgcini Nyoni for once again experimenting with new faces and new talent. There are only three words to describe Intwasa Extra: “SHORT AND SWEET”. The Extra was successful mainly due to the involvement of partners like OSISA, Patsime Trust, Pamberi Trust, National Art Gallery in Bulawayo and Innovation for Africa, who believed in the Intwasa brand and supported the idea of the Extra. The paying audiences were also instrumental to this success as well.
derick.khumalo