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Sunday Life Reporter
JAHUNDA Community Arts from the capital of Matabeleland South, Gwanda, has forced its way into the top charts of theatre arts with its production, 1983 the Dark Years.
The play has been used as a channel to preach unity, tolerance and forgiveness following the country’s political disturbances soon after independence. The play was once banned by the authorities in 2012, and the group, assisted by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, managed to get clearance from the courts but decided to shelve it until the dawn of the new political dispensation led by President Mnangagwa.
“The play was once staged at the Large City Hall in Bulawayo on the International Peace Day before it was banned but we went to court represented by lawyer Lizwe Jamela and we were cleared. With the new political dispensation we believe there is more freedom of creativity and we have unpacked it again.
We performed it in Gwanda in front of a massive crowd and also had an invitation to perform in Harare from Davies Guzha and we were at the Theatre in the Park for four days and in one evening we had Commissioners from the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission watching us.
Talks are underway with possible funders who wish to take us on a national, regional and international tour. The lesson that comes from the play is that after whatever has happened, people can still reconcile and forgive each other and work together as a nation,” said the director of the play, Adrian Musa.
The play centres on a story of a young girl who is on a journey to discover her identity and origin. She travels to the rural areas where she meets an old man who gives her details surrounding the circumstances of her parents’ death during the political upheavals. The story is told through a narration of physical movements and a fusion of percussion and music as well as flash backs. The energy on stage is amazing, and scenes depicted captivating.
The play was produced by Sithabile Malambane, a scriptwriter who graduated from the Zimbabwe Film and Television School of Southern Africa. She has written and directed three films.
The director of the play, Musa, also features prominently in the play. He has featured and directed a number of plays such as A case of trouble by Raisedon Baya, The Inmates, Tears and Sorrow and Amanzi, among others.
The cast includes the likes of Webson Zenda, who has also acted in a number of plays and is also a singer and choreographer, Nesisa Ndlovu, a young talent tapped straight from school who cut her teeth in theatre at Gwanda High and Zezane High School, Proficiance Cadder, who is a student at Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Polytechnic and has featured in a number of theatre productions as well.
Another member of the cast is Kukhanyakwenkosi Mnkandla, who started arts at Mzingwane High School and later became part of Zalabantu Theatre Company and is also a trained film maker.
Online Reporter