Rest in peace, Walter

theatre.
What I have put down below may not offer any new facts or revelations about the uniqueness of this hero of Zimbabwean performing arts in general and theatre arts in particular.
However, my words are an attempt at paying a befitting tribute to the late Muparutsa by listing those unique things about him which make many in the arts industry say they have lost a most visible and attractive aspect of the Zimbabwean theatre brand — that’s what Muparutsa was.
First, Muparutsa has been for many years, a mobile theatre university not only for the new entrants to the theatre industry but also to many veterans in Zimbabwean theatre — writers, actors, directors, producers, administrators, educators, critics, promoters and motivators.
He was a most willing and available mentor to all who sought after his unique artistic gifts.
Muparutsa recognised, very early in life, that he had rare talent of transmitting to other practitioners his skill, passion, zeal, dedication and extreme commitment to theatre arts and the ability to cultivate them into masters of the arts.
Muparutsa’s concern with the proper handling of young talent in his five decades of preoccupation in literary and performing arts is a national contribution not easy to ignore, even given our national propensity to ignore contribution of the arts and culture sector to national development.
Second, Muparutsa was a formidable and most constructive theatre critic who did not use the mass media space but a personal touch that was frank, direct and yet full of nurturing care and direction. He took every available chance to point out to emerging and established performing artistes the potential pitfalls of ego-tripping, celebrity  drunkenness and self-blinding  pride.
Many times Muparutsa chose to boldly brandish a very unpopular stance of disagreeing with those who did want to say the truth about the arts situation and the environment that continued to starve and impoverish the creators of art by imposing on them valueless celebrity status and inability to speak with one.
All this was a result of Muparutsa’s self-belief in constructive criticism of the artistes, their products and their attitude to each other and to their industry.
Thirdly, Muparutsa was a very modest master of cultural diplomacy — the use of culture to communicate and to convey salient human circumstances and to point towards the necessity to appreciate complex human behaviour and their resultant effects.
This, in many respects, points to his consideration of theatre as an able market for the idea of freedom of expression. To call Muparutsa an advocate of freedom of expression as a basic human right is to be very limiting. But to call him a tireless guardian of the right to freedom of expression is to be fair to the departed great man.
The chronicle of the plays he conceptualised, wrote and facilitated in creation and staging, from as early as in 1963; the radio and television dramas he created, participated and starred in; the films he participated in as an actor; the arts and culture festivals and campaigns he managed and promoted; the performing and literary arts projects he created, facilitated and led; the arts movements and associations he helped establish and led, is to vividly demonstrate Muparutsa’s conviction that the arts are the  sustainable  platform for  nurturing the ability to attain and retain the right  to freedom of expression.
Fourth, Muparutsa was a quality connoisseur of the performing arts and in particular theatre arts. This is demonstrated by his invitation as a selector, adjudicator, evaluator, manager, adviser and consultant in such events as the Harare International Festival of the Arts, Manica Arts Festival, Dzimbahwe Arts Festival, Zimbabwe International Film Festival, National Arts Merit Awards, Africa University Festival, National Winter Festival and High Schools Theatre Festival and many other committees and commissions.
Fifth, Muparutsa also believed in wholesome versatility in the performing arts in theory and practice. His search for all round versatility enhanced his enormous skills in writing, acting, directing, producing, stage management, teaching, criticism and promotion.
He had unwavering commitment to theatre arts in a country where choosing a full-time career in theatre arts was and is still considered as foolish, naïve and forsaking oneself to a life of poverty.
In many respects it was Muparutsa’s versatility that ensured his constant economic stability in full-time theatre profession.
Sixth, in our African cultures, a grandfather is a custodian of cultural identity, a shoulder to cry on, an adviser, a counsellor and teacher.
There are few theatre artists on stage, film, television and radio in Zimbabwe who could not find these characteristics in Muparutsa and who did not feel or appreciate these grandfatherly qualities. And yet Muparutsa chose to be ordinary to all, accessible to all, and a modest celebrity who was not aware of his celebrity status.
These qualities cannot be achieved by an artiste e who is not blinded by the passion and dedication to a lifelong professional career in the arts.
Seventh, Muparutsa was a vigilant custodian of Zimbabwean culture. He stood out as a cultural nationalist who ensured that the value and richness of the diversity of our culture was dominantly expressed in all his artistic work.
He fought for space to grow cultural activities, cultural movements and cultural organisations as the basis for a viable arts industry.
Muparutsa believed that without growing cultural activities, viable professional careers in the arts were  not possible. This is why he was so committed to constantly growing arts and culture festivals as well as ensuring that those festivals in place are proficiently run.
Lastly, Muparutsa did not see race, tribe or gender as impediments in the practice of the arts and the joy of participation in creating the arts.
At independence he joined with Ben Sibenke, Dominic Kanaventi, Bart Wolffe, John Indi, Andrew Whaley, John Haig, Susan Hains and Simon Shumba to demonstrate that good theatre practice transcends racial, tribal and gender limitations.
The multitude of artistes and the general public who attended Muparutsas funeral wake and burial were a loud voice calling for the recognition of this hero of our cultural struggle.
He has written with his illustrious life of full commitment to creation and promotion of the arts, the first chapter of the cultural struggle to which we should all be committed. It is appropriate to end this message of tribute with a line from Bart Wolffe’s poetic dirge received by Daves Guzha a night before Muparutsa’s burial.
“Walter, you have gone home, and left me with your legends and many a memory.”