Theatre in the Park duo in Ibsen Festival

Entertainment Reporter
Theatre in the Park’s Daves Guzha and Annamore Ziweya were in Olso Norway for annual Intentional Ibsen Festival.
The festival which was curated by the National Theatre ran from September 6 to 22.Guzha who is the producer for ‘‘Theatre in the Park’’ and projects manager Ziweya were the only African performing artists that attended the festival.

Guzha said the festival came at the right time before the opening of the new state-of the art ‘‘Theatre in the Park’’.

“After almost two years of absence from active participation in theatre at home, this is a great opportunity to kick start new relationships with all those attending this festival and we hope that we will bring home new collaborations and exciting productions that will push our revival.

“We also want to pay our gratitude and sincere appreciation to the Norwegian Embassy who made this trip possible by taking care of all our travelling needs and with this faith shown in us we will not let anyone involved in theatre in Zimbabwe down as we are working round the clock to seal new collaborations,” Guzha said.

He said the new venue was expected to increase its productions this year from the previous number in previous years.

Ziweya said the festival exposed her on how theatre venues are managed.

“The Ibsen festival gave me an opportunity to have an insight of how other theatres venues are being operated. The ideas and exposure that I got will help me to properly run the new ‘‘Theatre in the Park venue’’. I hope this will take our theatrical activities to the next level,” she said.

International Ibsen Festival is a tribute to Norway’s greatest playwright Henrik Ibsen and his ground-breaking work challenging the theatrical conventions of his time.

The festival opens the autumn season at The National Theatre of Norway every year. The repertoire includes the theatre’s own productions, as well as Norwegian and international guest performances, seminars, debates and other events.

The National Theatre’s International Ibsen Festival has given rise to a number of Ibsen festivals in other countries.

Through its 24 years, 14 festivals and almost 250 productions from Norway and abroad, it has demonstrated the continued relevance of Ibsen, as a razor-sharp portrayer of our lives and desires.