The Sunday News
Bruce Ndlovu/Rumbidzai Mhlanga, Sunday Life Reporters
FOR an hour the actors had the audience spellbound. This was on the second day of the Intwasa Festival koBulawayo and the Jane Marlowe written play, There is a Field, was making its debut at the Bulawayo Theatre.
When the stage lights were dimmed at 7PM, those that had not read the play’s synopsis would have been surprised at the spectacle that unfolded in front of their eyes.
Those expecting familiar themes were in for a rude shock, as the play left the borders of Zimbabwe and landed in the Middle East, diving headlong into the Israeli-Palestine conflict that has plagued the region for decades.
The crowd that braved the low temperature and strong winds that swung and shook blooming Jacarandas on that Wednesday evening was warmed up by an acting master class from the cast hailing from the capital.
The flawless dialogue between the characters was perhaps the illustration of the work done in rehearsal before the final product came on stage while their ability to switch between multiple Palestinian and Israeli characters gave a comic effect to a play that tacked serious issues.
On that evening at the Bulawayo Theatre, one could smell the dust of Tel Aviv or hear the steady trickle of the blood flowing in the West Bank as the actors, through dance and poetic speech, brought to life a never-ending conflict raging half a world away.
Like the audience on the official opening of the fest on Tuesday, the crowd for that event was modest. It was a modesty that the acts that performed over those two days did not seem to share, as they flamboyantly displayed their talents.
The collaboration of Gwanda’s Bolamba Arts and Bulawayo’s very own arts troupe, Ezimnyama, brought Bulawayo Theatre to a standstill.
“We want to say congratulations. May you work well this week and may the Lord also bless you,” said Bulawayo Provincial Affairs Minister Mrs Judith Ncube. “In the 80s you used to say umkhulu lomsebenzi. It is still a big job and we want to say thank you,” she said.
It was not a prepared speech and Minister Ncube was surprised when she was asked to say something before Bolamba and Ezimnyama took to the stage.
That was the spirit in which the first few days of the festival were held. The pomp that characterised past opening ceremonies in the past was discarded as Intwasa put art at the forefront of proceedings during a year in which they have had to operate on a shoestring budget.
Spectacular opening ceremonies with big stages and big name artistes now appear a thing of the past as running a festival is now a game of survival. It is perhaps for this reason that in the first three days of the festival, most of Bulawayo might perhaps have been oblivious of it.
Art lovers buzzed around venues that serve art on a regular basis like the Bulawayo Art Gallery and Bulawayo Theatre.
However, over the first days at least, for the rest of the city the festival was yet to make its debut. This was because of the absence of the stage at the City Hall car park until Friday.
The stage has become for many a signal about the arrival of spring and without it Intwasa’s bloom appeared silent, something that has also been the case in the last few years.
The stage is a key piece of the puzzle but according to the organisers it is also one of the most expensive, making it hard to maintain it over the course of six days.
The impact that it brings to the festival is felt the moment it is planted at the City Hall car park but as they operated on a shoestring budget, having it for half the festival was perhaps the best that could be done under the circumstances. While coffers might have run dry, talent continues to flow from Bulawayo.
On Wednesday only a handful of people braved the cold at the Art Gallery courtyard to watch Sinkede, Bantu, Izwi and others brew up an intoxicating blend of music and poetry in a show titled Amazwi Imizwilili leSginci.
For comedy lovers, the Borderline Insanity comedy show hosted by Intwasa Arts Festival was a great stress reliever, as they put the throng that attended the show at ease with humorous acts that comedians of the night stitched together. Indeed it was a great comedic appetiser before Friday’s star studded Night of the Big Comedy.
The performers on the night included Dumisani Ndlovu known as MaForty, poet Tinashe Tafirenyika, Ezra Nyoni and Harare-based Mukudzei Kandoro Majoni popularly known as King Kandoro.
Perhaps the most impressive part of the night was how the troop of comedians had the audience laughing their heads off, illustrating as they did so the true meaning of comedy as they created skits based on the unpleasant encounters that people live through.
While Intwasa organisers might have had headaches putting together this year’s festival because of the harsh economic environment, the comedians on the night also brought to light how the common man was also suffering. All this was done with a dash of humour.
Transport problems, shortages as well as the lousy driving of Honda Fit drivers and xenophobic attacks that happened in South Africa all did not escape the scorn of the merciless comedians.
Speaking to Sunday Life comedian MaForty said acts such as his could soothe people in trying times.
“Laughter is the greatest medicine hence that is the reason why as comedians we come up with content that the audience can relate to and laugh about, in my performances I touched on economic and political issues, we were ironical about all the hardships that people face everyday, so basically as comedians we tell people’s life stories and experiences in a sarcastic way,” he said.
King Kandoro shared the same sentiments with MaForty as he pointed out most of his content is observational humour, as he picks up comedic material from the environment around him.
“All my content is observational humour and satire so I am inspired by my environment and all that happens around me, nowadays all that people discuss is the economic crisis hence it is easier to talk about what everyone knows about. Although there is nothing funny about it, we satirise it to make people laugh as a way of relieving stress,” said King Kandoro.
