Chronicle Editor
Mbulelo Mpofu, Showbiz Reporter
IT was the usual music, dance and well-thought narration when Sunduza Dance Theatre celebrated 37 years in the theatre business over a two-day period at the Bulawayo Theatre on Wednesday and Thursday.
The dance ensemble played out their new theatre production titled The Other Cecil. Philip Vice wrote the well-researched play.
Zimbabwean history tells of a British imperialist, Cecil John Rhodes who invaded the country but in 2015, a different kind of Cecil was killed at the Hwange National Park and the play was centred on animal and vegetation conservancy.
The other Cecil was a black-maned, 13-year-old lion who lived in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park.
Sunduza members played out the main characters in what is now globally known as the Cecilgate.
Walter Palmer, an American dentist from Minnesota, is said to have paid $54 000 to bow-hunt Cecil.
On July 1, 2015, he hit Cecil with an arrow on a farm outside the park, a place where the lion usually went to explore. The team tracked the famed cat and shot him again 11 hours later.
Sunduza taught the audience that the aftermath of Cecil’s killing sparked a furore with a list of reforms enacted to curb or minimise trophy hunting.
The reforms include banning lion trophy imports altogether, a number of airlines led by Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson pledging not to carry hunting trophies from Africa and hunting restrictions in Kenya, Botswana and Zambia among other reforms to protect endangered animal species.
Before the main act, Thabiso the poet warmed up the crowd with an IsiNdebele poem tackling topical societal issues.
The play also shone the spotlight on how the San people live a life of fruit gathering and animal hunting and called upon the importance of tribal equity among citizens of Zimbabwe.
The group’s longest-serving member, Baphi Fafaza Mdladla was the star of the show as he mesmerised the audience with his rendition of how the San people speak and interact.
It was an environmental lesson and the class was in session.
Lions were the main topic where they were said to be facing extinction with Southern Africa said to be a haven for an animal which is a symbol of bravery.
The theme of conserving the natural environment was high in the pecking order alongside a historical rendition of how the group started till its present moment.
The play was set out in the bush where a game warden settled on a tent with the sole intent of keeping wild animals safe from poachers.
Sunduza also gave a statistical smorgasbord on the negative effects of trophy hunting, especially on lions.
Lions have declined precipitously in the wild, down from an estimated 200 000 continent-wide a century ago to about 20 000 today.
Trophy hunting advocates and some conservationists argue that fees from hunts support conservation efforts for the big cats, whose main threats are habitat loss, prey depletion and greater conflict with humans.
The 10-man band gave a stellar performance and will take the play to Mitambo Arts Festival in Harare soon.
The audience was also given a history lesson on how the group was formed and how it has been growing from strength to strength.
In its formation in 1985, the group was an all-male ensemble called High Stars Sunduza Boys and was led by Simon Banda who is the father of the group’s director now, Charles Mahlaba Banda.
Today, it incorporates female singers and dancers who are eloquent narrators as well.
The group came to the fruitful formation through a play called Injabulo, a play that is very dear to them as it was their first full-stage production that led to their breakthrough.
Injabulo follows the story of a young man growing up in his rural area and relocating to South Africa to find work in the mines although he dreams of becoming a musician.
The original central star for the show had Simon Banda who was strongly supported by Elijah Mbambo, Misheck Moyo and the late Alec Ncube who ended his career performing with Black Umfolosi.
The play also made them earn their first international debut tour in 1992 to the UK.
Charles Mahlaba Banda has been leading the group in reviving his father’s older songs and introducing some exciting new repertoire.
Wonderful songs such as Imali, Nompilo, Sinikiwe, Istimela have wowed people from London, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Scotland, Switzerland, Singapore and Vancouver.
The group has also revived several productions in the last few years to reach an international level of competence.
These include Voices from the Rocks – the Story of the Matopos and the Adventures of Robert Moffat.
Sunduza has in the past, performed with arts mainstays such as poet Albert Nyathi, Lovemore Majaivana, Black Umfolosi, Imbizo, Paul Lunga, Jazz Impacto and Siyaya among others. – @eMKlass_49
Online Reporter