The Sunday News
Thobekisiwe Gumede Sunday Leisure Reporter
THEATRE is a major discipline during the Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo. It comes second only to music in terms of the number of shows at the festival, and this year is no difference as there are four full-length theatre pieces lined up from the professional circuit. The four pieces are complemented by the popular Live Literature Project with its three set book plays, Lion and The Jewel, Colour of Hope and Importance of Being Erneast, and the finals of the Plan High Schools Drama competition.
Raisedon Baya, the festival director, said the plays were in line with the festival’s objectives of Child and Youth Participation and Development.
“All in all the festival is hosting 19 plays and the pieces are as different in theme as they are in form and style. In terms of issues tackled they range from simple relationships to complex ideas of womanhood, succession, leadership and disability,” said Baya.
The award winning playwright said from the professional circuit, plays that will be featured are the plays Mothers from the Women in Theatre, a Nhimbe Trust project, Mbiko kaMadlenya, For Generations and 1 000 Miles.
“Mothers will do a national tour of Gweru, Harare, Mutare and Masvingo before coming to Intwasa on 25 September at Bulawayo Theatre.
“Mbiko kaMadlenya is a historical play commissioned by Intwasa Arts Festival and Bulawayo City Council for 2014. It is an adaptation and re-imagination of the class Ndebele tale set in 1871, two years after King Mzilikazi’s death.”
“The play deals with the near crisis that nearly consumed the Ndebele nation when it became difficult to instal a new leader. The story looks at succession and political greed. It is expected to be a big hit,” he said.
Adding an international flavour to the programme will be a South African play For Generations. The play is an autobiographical piece that traces the writer Kurt Egeholf’s family life through four generations.
The play has been performed to critical acclaim at many South African festivals, including the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. Apart from the performances Kurt Egeholf is also running a three day master class workshop on play creation — focusing on autobiographies.
Jasen Mphepo, known for his powerful roles in plays such as the acclaimed and award-winning Super Patriots and Morons, Waiters, and PrisonerXYZ comes back this year with a one man play about death and looking back called 1 000 Miles.
Baya mentioned that to complement the professional plays there will be the Plan Highs Schools Drama competition which has more than 10 schools from Tsholotsho, Bulawayo, Kwekwe, Matabeleland South and North.
“High schools will be focusing on the theme, Every Child Deserves a Second Chance. The competition pieces were created with students and children at the centre of the creative process and also as the main target for the plays,” said Baya.
The schools which made it to the finals are Townsend Girls High, Mzilikazi High, Gifford Boys High, Kwekwe High, Silobela High, Matopo High, JZ Moyo High, Eveline Girls High, Founders, Tsholotsho High, Bubude, and Tennyson High School. These will clash for prizes on 24 September at Bulawayo Theatre.
