The drama before the drama at Intwasa

27 Sep, 2015 - 02:09 0 Views
The drama before  the drama at Intwasa

The Sunday News

27 Sept Drama behind drama - the sun will rise again

Bruce Chimani, Sunday News Correspondent
IT’S a few minutes before 9am, and already a throng is building up outside Bulawayo Theatre — green, maroon, blue, white and red school uniforms can be seen pacing about, eagerly waiting for what’s about to happen in a few moments.

Right at the door, the box office has been opened and the attendant on the other side of the small window is seen handing out tickets in exchange for a couple of dollars — and the grins and smiles on the payers being evidence that this is a worthy cause to part ways with the much coveted dollars.

Today, the play showing is an adaptation of George Mujajati’s The Sun Will Rise Again and this is part of the Intwasa Festival’s Live Literature initiative which seeks to bring high school literature class text-books onto the stage to bring to life the plots and initiate meaningful dialogue among the pupils.

Meanwhile, inside the 319-seater auditorium, soundmen can be seen on their computers and machines working to make sure that the show will be worthwhile. Lighting designers, in liaison with the stage manager work at synchronising the technical aspects of the production — work which if undone, will be disastrous for the whole production.

“This is the place where there is drama before the actual drama on stage,” says today’s stage manager, another actor, Gift Chakuvinga.

Evidently so, by the time this reporter gets backstage with the crew and the some members of the cast, a cloud of tension fills the whole atmosphere.

In the men’s changing room, actors can be seen putting on their costumes for the first scene. While this is happening, Chakuvinga takes an informal roll call, checking if all the cast members are now at the venue.

With the help of another member of the cast, the stage manager also doubles up as a fly crew member and goes up to pull ropes that bring in and out the drops that help create the scenes. This operates on a counter weight system and is extremely heavy. Jokes are then made of the mass of the weights which they say always get one extremely kaput and tired.

In the ladies’ dressing room, the womenfolk have also put on their costumes. Nokwanda Sibanda, who plays as one of the leading actresses in this particular play showing today is pacing about expressing how much she is feeling unwell. She paces about on the stage (curtains are down by the way) as she recalls her introductory lines as Fatima in the play.

“I don’t think I will be able to keep up with doing two shows today — my voice is a mess. I lose my voice ever so easily so I think I will struggle,” says Charmaine Mudau, who plays Sofia in the play.

The tautness backstage can almost be cut out.

Comical actor Lesley Masuku, who regularly cracks up the crowd with his demeanour and droll performances, is also pacing up and about repeating his lines. In a short while, he is literally laying prostrate, working out and shouting out his lines at the same time.

“ . . . perhaps you do not need a lawyer,” he keeps repeating, changing tones and pitch variations.

A few metres away, stage manager Chakuvinga, together with another stage manager, Tawanda Mukoma, are creatively making a prop for a scene in the play. A mahewu bottle has been ingeniously turned into a vase carrying two beautiful roses which will be used as a sign of love and romance on set.

“Sometimes we have to just make it work and take the performance to another level by just employing simple means to communicate great truths,” Gift says as he wraps the empty bottle with sliver duct-tape.

Outside of the auditorium, multitudes of school kids are getting into the theatre, where yesteryear hip-hop music is playing, and chuckles and giggles are heard.

Raisedon Baya, who is the play’s director, walks onto the stage and informs the cast that the play will start in about ten minutes.

At this point in time, the clear morale connection that exists among members of the cast can be clearly seen. They can be seen dressing each other and helping each other put on costumes — the motivation that they are to each other is impeccable and it dilutes the dreary tension in a great way.

A few minutes later, all is set and the presenters introduce the play.

Lights, action.

The smooth flow on stage is not true in the sense of the backstage. Tension is still on as the play ensues.

Elton Sibanda, who plays as sugar-daddy Richard Nyati in the play is putting on extra layers of clothing so as to simulate the caricature of a big-bellied sugar-daddy as urban legend has portrayed them to be.

“Jeki wena uyatsha phela estagini. Ngiyakuzwela njani (Man, you must be feeling really hot up on stage. I feel pity for you.),” says Ronald Sigeca to Elton as the play continues on stage.

At this point, Sigeca himself has appeared on a scene but he was unhappy because he didn’t have his “lucky shoes” on. When a friend finally brings them to him backstage, he is ecstatic and exclaims to this reporter that he is really about to start performing now as he removes the shiny black golden age dress-shoe.

Dalton Ngubeni, who plays the drunkard Takundwa in the play has Chibuku in his hands, as he gets ready to jump onto the stage and be a menace.

“It’s almost time for me to jump in drunk now,” he says to this reporter before going onto the stage.

By the time the play finishes, a lot of running, searching for “missing” props and tension would have all happened and will be forgotten as if it were nothing.

The rest of the cast — Anita Moyo, Bonakele Ncube, Sharon Bhuru and Patrick Mabhena all work like a well-oiled machine — feeding young minds with imagination and reflection that will be helpful when Zimsec calls on that fateful examination day.

Meanwhile, from the house, the audience is clapping and having fun, not aware of all logistical and emotional tensions that exist behind the scenes.

The curtain closes, the perfomances comes to an end. It’s time to get ready for a second performance of the same play because over 500 pupils are waiting to watch the same play.
“Guys, come over and let us get ready again,” exclaims Elton from backstage.

 

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