Theatre in the Park: Lifeline for Bulawayo artists

Bruce Ndlovu
With the numbers of people who attend theatre displays continually dwindling, Bulawayo practitioners have found a lifeline in the revival of Hararea��s Theatre in the Park with more plays from the city set to showcase on the platform.

Theatre in the Park came back after a four year hiatus, finding a home at the Harare Gardens after having left the Gazebo at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair in 2012 after a fall out with book fair organizers.

Until then, Rooftop Productions had used the venue for 17 years.

In the past the theatre platform was instrumental in breaking Bulawayo actors, playwrights and directors into the national limelight. Former Amakhosi director and arts doyen Cont Mhlanga credited the platform for helping some of the centrea��s most celebrated talents like Raisedon Baya (ABOVE) and Zenzo Nyathi achieve nationwide recognition.

The arts centre previously had an exchange programme with Theatre in the Park, which allowed it to send its best talents and plays to the capital.

In the few weeks since the return of the platform, two Bulawayo productions have already been exhibited at Harare Gardens while seasoned actor Memory Kumbota was also asked to direct the play A Love Song for the Impotent Son which starred former Studio 263 actress Chipo Bizura.

In an interview Raisedon Baya said that the Theatre in the Park platform was instrumental for the survival of the Zimbabwean theatre scene as attendance figures dwindled.

a�?Ia��m happy that the park is back because that is one place the purpose of theatre. Most of the plays that showcase there are very current and they show the social climate of the country as it is at the moment,a�? he said.

Baya said that he hoped that the current relationship between Theatre in the Park and Bulawayo would also see actors being sent to the capital for exposure. Bayaa��s two plays, The Taking and Super Patriots and Morons have exhibited so far.

a�?We have sent two plays and a third is in the pipeline while plans to send actors too are already in motion. Ita��s an important platform for actors because one gets the feel and taste of performing in front of good crowds,a�? he said.

Baya said that the return of Theatre in the Park was particularly welcome as his and other theatre practitionera��s efforts to build similarly strong theatre audiences in Bulawayo would take longer to bear fruit.

a�?We have been trying to do the same with Bulawayo Theatre but that is not really our venue and it takes time to build an audience. With Theatre in the Park they bring you to Harare, pay for your accommodation and you share the gate takings depending on the popularity of your show. These are things that are lacking in other cities,a�? he said.