Where is drama in Bulawayo?

Thobekisiwe Gumede Sunday Leisure Reporter
WHEN one talks of drama and film in Bulawayo, the likes of Stitsha, Sinjalo and Amakorokoza comes to mind.
Gone are the days when Bulawayo productions used to rule the roost, when people used to look forward to productions done by actors and producers born and bred in the city, when the likes of the late Beater Mangethe, as the irrepressible Thuli in the riveting Stitsha, used to rock the television screens.

Her portrayal of the rebellious girl prepared to go against her brother and society’s “repressive” conventions was groundbreaking as it was impressive. The then young Mangethe carried the lead role with ease.

Amakhosi used to boast of great productions in drama, something that continued to identify the city as the hub of Zimbabwean arts and talent.

Of late, the city has been found wanting when it comes to producing something that adds to the national arts discourse as there are seemingly few productions on national television coming from Bulawayo.

Veteran playwright, actor and theatre director who is also founder and head of Amakhosi Theatre Productions Company, Cont Mhlanga said Amakhosi had stopped producing any drama because there were no audiences.

Mhlanga, who produced Amakorokoza, a TV series that was once common among the young and old said lack of audiences had led to low productions.

“How can we produce when people are watching DSTV? We stopped producing for television because people no longer watch ZBC. It is of no use that we produce stuff that people won’t watch.

“Companies have also stopped advertising on television and ZBC has no money so at the end of the day there are no returns in producing drama,” he said.
Mhlanga also lamented the issue of piracy and said it was another factor that led to non-production of dramas.

“Piracy is one of the things that have led people not to produce. One will produce a film today and the next day it’s being sold on the streets. It is really affecting the film industry,” he said.

The veteran actor said Zimbabweans ought to have a competent television channel where local stuff would be aired and that content shown across the world.

“We cannot produce and sell our content to other countries, we don’t support that. We want our own channel that is going to show local productions and then we can have South Africa, Mozambique also tuning into the channel to view our local talent.

“We have not stopped producing talent at all. We have amazing talent at Amakhosi and I have always told the guys I am working with that they should not show their works as yet, one day we will have our own channel and all that they would have produced will be shown to the world.

“Art is not affected by the test of time, we can produce as much as we can and keep them waiting for the right time to sell them. We will try and engage the Government and make sure we have our own channel so we can continue producing for television,” he said.

One of Zimbabwe’s renowned directors and actor, Memory Kumbota said Bulawayo had not stopped producing dramas mentioning that there were only a few that were being screened on national television.

He, however, lamented lack of funding, noting that it mainly had to do with the country’s economic challenges.

Kumbota said in previous years, ZBC used to produce its own dramas but there was a change when Amakhosi took over. Films were produced and then sold over to ZBC.

However, because of the economic situation in the country, Kumbota said, this has since stopped.

“It is hard to produce more of the dramas because there is no money in the country and there are very few companies which are willing to sponsor. We have not run out of ideas, it’s just a matter of the industry not having the money to produce more,” he said.

He said although there was low production there were young people making an effort to revive the film industry.

“At least there are people who are trying to produce something, like Gugulethu Ndlovu who is the producer of the drama series, Mr Perfect. The series has not been shown on the screens though,” he said.