Theatre fever at Hifa

Opening on April 30 which is the BancABC Day will be eight plays. The first of these plays is Shimmer Chinodya’s adaptation of his internationally acclaimed novel, “Harvest of Thorns”, which features some of Zimbabwe’s prominent and award-winning theatre artistes —Michael Kudakwashe, Winnie Moyo, Albert Nyathi, Charles Matare, Chipo Bizure, Maylene Chenjerai, Caroline Mashingaidze, Nothando Nobengula, Bob Mutumbi and Vusa Dzimwasha.

The play is directed by the author and produced by Albert Nyathi with music composed by Hope Masike. This is not the only theatre production in the festival to be staged at the 7 Arts Theatre and organisers expect a big rush for the tickets of the show which is being promoted as Zimbabwe’s first full-scale original musical.

Also opening on this day is Chrispen Bere’s “The Missing Crown”. The play, which is directed by the author in collaboration with Jimmy Mukurumbandi, is cited as “a dramatic fusion of song, music, dance, rituals and physical theatre crafted to draw the audience into a mythical world and keep them there”.

Another Zimbabwean theatre piece opening on this day is Savannah Trust’s production of “Half Empty Half Full” that features a cast of prominent actors, Teddy Mangawa and Tafadzwa Hanandah. The play, which was directed by acclaimed South African theatre director Mcedisi Shabangu, had a successful run at Musho Festival in Durban quite recently.

Also opening on this BancABC Day is a Zambian production of “Desperate Love”, which features a cast of actors from Zambia, Kenya and Sudan that is led by the versatile Lusaka-based Zimbabwean actor, playwright and director, Tsungai Garise. “Desperate Love” has been promoted as an exciting piece “that shares women and men’s points of view in the search and understanding of love.”

On the same day, at ZB Bank Reps Theatre Upstairs, is the presentation of a collection of 10-minute plays under the title “Short + Sweet”. The plays to be featured are: “Holy Maria” by Adong Judith (Uganda) and directed Patience Tawengwa; “Last Ten Minutes” by Tsoka Kwenda (Zimbabwe) directed by Everson Ndlovu; “What are the Odds” by Ogutu Muraya (Kenya) and directed by Elizabeth Muchemwa; “No Cause” by Patrida Olwodi (Uganda) directed by Leonard Matsa and “Victory At Last” by Siebert Mabasa (Zimbabwe) and directed by Winnie Moyo. “Short + Sweet” is the brainchild of Lloyd Nyikadzino, who is the national co-ordinator of the International Theatre Institute (Zimbabwe Centre).

Another acclaimed South African theatre director, Monageng Motsabi, is featured in Savannah Trust’s production of “Pub Stories”— a play based on the late Dambudzo Marachera’s short story “Tony Fights Tonight”. The play’s main story is “of a man willing to seek to the point of self-destruction, his notion of free will in its highest form”.

Also opening on this day is a gripping South African play “The Line” which has “been constructed from interviews with South Africans involved in or affected by the xenophobic attacks that took place in May 2008”.

Concluding the BancABC Day theatre programme is Blessing Hungwe’s “Looking Into the Abyss” by NKM Theatre Initiative with the support of the British Council. The play is “made up of two stories told by two of Zimbabwe’s finest actresses. Kristina, aged 13, is sacrificed by her father and sold to the village oligarch in exchange for maize. Lillian is married off at age 14.”

Opening on May 1 – the CABS Day – will be two productions from South Africa. The first of the two plays will be “Ogeling” written by a celebrated French Canadian playwright Sussane Lebeau and adopted to a Southern African context by Yvette Hardie, who is also the current president of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People. The play, which is being promoted as a “play for children and the young at heart”, has had successful runs at the Cape Town, Grahamstown and Kinu Festival in Rwanda.

The second play opening on the CABS Day is “Itsoseng”, an award-winning one-man show featuring the author, Omphile Molusi . The play is about “the fortunes and misfortunes of Itsoseng Township 13 years after apartheid”. The only Zimbabwean theatre production opening on this day is “Six Shades of Awkward” written by Joakim Daun.

The play is promoted as a “modern comedy taking place both in Zimbabwe and elsewhere”.
The third day of the festival — The Stanbic Bank Day – will feature four plays. The first of these plays is Rooftop Promotion’s production of “Ten Bush” which is written and directed by the acclaimed South African theatre director Mcedisi Shabangu from Market Theatre in Johannesburg. The play is “a dramatic and intensely visual tale of witchcraft and intrigue, where witches are set on fire and men who vomit up snakes and stones”.

The second play opening on this day is “Coming To Zim”. This United States of America entry is a one-man show featuring a theatre and television celebrity actor and director, James Carey, who appeared in such television shows as “Days of Our Lives”, “The Young and the Restless” and ‘HBO’s “Tales from the Crypt” and several Disney films.

The other play to open on this day is “Dead Man’s Cellphone” written by an award-winning playwright, Sarah Ruhl. The play, which is directed by Julie Wharton and produced by Patience Tawengwa, has been described as a “funny and perceptive collage of the connected we are forging and losing in this age of hi-tech communication”. The last show of the day, “The Fire Crown”, is a theatrical presentation “showing Indonesia’s most popular arts” that is presented by the Indonesian Embassy.

Opening on the fourth day of the festival — May 3, which is the Golden Pilsener Day – will be six plays. The first play on this day is “MAfrika” by Nicola Jackman of South Africa — “an interactive, multi-media, edu-tainment piece where the children learn how to release fear, laugh-loads, and that love is ultimately the most powerful choice”.

The second play of the day is“Vital Signs” by Under the Affluence Production and written by Jane Martin. The play is promoted as an “irrelevant, brutal, thought-provoking, laugh-out-loud funny series of monologues depicting contemporary woman in her warmth and majesty, her fear and frustration and her joy and sadness”.
“Standing in Pairs” — an Arts Lab and Tumbuka Dance Company production “inspired by prison stories” is the third play on the Golden Pilsener Day.

The play which features Edith weUtonga, Everson Ndlovu and Tumbuka Dance Company with music by Dave Carey and choreographic direction by Anna Morris is directed by Melissa Eveleigh.

Also opening on this day is “Calalpa” from Ireland. The play, which is written by Donal O’Kelly with music composed and performed by Trevor Knight, is an epic about “heroes and visionaries, political intrigue and personal loyalty with hot romance and battles at sea”.

Also opening on this day is “51 Percent”, which is a stand-up comedy show featuring Michael Kudakwashe, Comrade Fatso and Clive Chigubu. Another play opening on this day is “Dickens – The Master Story Teller”. The one-man show features Kevin Hanssen, who “performs a selection of funny, fantastical band fascinating stories selected from Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations”, “The Signalman’,’ “A Tale of Two Cities’ and “A Christmas Carol”. The play is directed Mark West.

Closing the theatre programme of Golden Pilsener Day is “Washington Junction” which is “a tale of three people who are united by their common aspirations, common interest and common setbacks”. Written by Tafadzwa Muzondo and directed by Patience Tawengwa, “Washington Junction” is a collaborative production of Edzai Isu Theatre Arts Project and Savannah Trust.

On the fifth day of the festival — the Coca Cola Day – two plays are featured. The first of the plays is “The Really Stupid Things Men Say” written and directed by Mgcini Nyoni. The play features Mbo Mahocs who “transforms before your eyes, changing with ease between characters and even sexes, creating an intimate and enjoyable performance of the war of sexes”.

The second play opening on this day is “Immigrants” a re-imaging of Arthur Miller’s “A View to Abridge” by Grassroots Theatre Company of Bulawayo. The play, which is directed by acclaimed Zimbabwean playwright and director Raisedon Baya, “looks at Zimbabweans immigrants living in South Africa’s Johannesburg during the era of xenophobia”.

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