Shakespearean plays dominate Hifa theatre

Sophia Chese-Msowa : Arts Correspondent

The Harare International Festival of the Arts Theatre season, which started yesterday with Shakespearean play “King Richard II” at the Reps Theatre, will see a number of Shakespearean dominating the programme. “King Henry I”, “King Henry II” and “King Henry V” are some of the plays that will be on today and tomorrow.According to the organisers of the event, the Hifa theatre season is supported by DANIDA and the Embassy of Portugal and is a celebration of all types of theatre, including physical storytelling, spoken word, dance theatre, satire and comedy.

“King Henry IV” (part I) is the second in a series of screened productions of Shakespeare plays featuring Tom Hiddlestone, Jeremy Irons, Alun Armstrong, Joe Armstrong, Simon Russell Beale, Julie Walters and David Hayman and this will wrap up the theatre day today.

The play will continue tomorrow with “King Henry IV” (part II) and the last of Shakespearean plays “King Henry V” will be on Sunday.

Zimbabwean plays will also be part of the theatre mini festival.

There is going to be spoken word the throughout the season and this will tackle issues like the thoughts, fears, hopes, dreams and convictions of familiar arts practitioners and administrators .

The theatre season will close with the comedy programme that will see Zimbabwean comedians including Carl Joshua Ncube and Doc Vikela among others sharing the stage with comedians from South Africa.

In a statement, Hifa spokesperson Tafadzwa Simba said tickets to the mini festival are on sale at Reps Theatre.

“Tickets are on sale at the Spotlight at Reps Theatre throughout the mini-festival. HIFA took time out to reinvent itself this year as it gears up for the 2017 edition.”

HIFA highlighted five new areas of programming, which have been will be rolled out until December to temporarily replace the traditional six-day festival.