VIDEO: The return of Cont Mhlanga ..… Arts doyen on Amakhosi revival plans

31 Mar, 2019 - 00:03 0 Views
VIDEO: The return of Cont Mhlanga ..… Arts doyen on Amakhosi revival plans Cont Mhlanga

The Sunday News

Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Correspondent

FOR three years Cont Mhlanga stood on the sidelines as he passed on the button to younger arts administrators who, in his absence, would have the responsibility to run the legendary centre. 

For those three years, and maybe some years before the retirement of Mhlanga, nothing worthwhile seemed to come out of Amakhosi.

Instead of hundreds of feet shuffling into Amakhosi to watch top talent, the centre got visitors of a different kind as travellers streamed in to board buses that rank at the illustrious arts institution. 

The centre seemed to have lost its spark, with empty stages and walls that looked thirsty for a fresh lick of paint. Skyz Metro was supposed to breathe fresh life into the centre but Amakhosi seemed to suffocate after the station’s relocation to the more centrally located Pioneer House. 

With all this going on, many were left asking the wisdom of Mhlanga’s retirement. Where was he, some quizzed, and had he done a good enough job of preparing those that were to steer the Amakhosi ship after its captain had decided he had had enough of life in the arts.

While obituaries were being written about the death of an institution that had given birth to some of Bulawayo’s greatest talents in the arts, Mhlanga has been plotting its resurrection. 

Mhlanga chose the World Theatre Day Celebrations last week to announce and share with the world how the revival would take place. Those that made the pilgrimage to the Mecca of Bulawayo arts would have seen how a revitalised Mhlanga is eager to get the centre up and running again. 

The centre is now home to young artistes again, with young writers now charged with coming up with productions that can bring back audiences to the famed Cultural Centre. In fact, while Mhlanga earned his reputation for producing compelling stage acts, he now insists that he wants to produce equally great writers.     

 “The challenge that we face right now is that the angle of the industry that we’re launching is hinged on writing. It’s not hinged on acting. In that way it’s different from the old Amakhosi. It is a completely different thing,” he told Sunday Life. 

Mhlanga’s vision includes a blockbuster historical musical featuring some of the city’s most renowned arts practitioners. While he will be the director of the play set to star Sandra Ndebele and other prominent city artistes, Mhlanga said writers will have to take centre stage. 

“The writers are all new. Everyone is new. We’re doing a musical in September starring the likes of Sandra Ndebele, Thembi Ngwabi and the young talent that we’ve got on showcase right now. It is purely for export. It will in the Middle East, South East Asia and other parts of the globe. 

The writers are what’s lacking. So we’re training writers. When you’re training writers you’re giving them little plots and each one of them is working on a plot of their own. And those plots will be performed here. It’s a big musical but when they’re performed individually at Amakhosi you won’t know,” he said. 

Mhlanga revealed that training was already in progress even before last week’s launch, with those the centre had taken under its wing working on repertory theatre. Repertory theatre is a system of play production in which a resident acting company keeps a repertory of plays that are always ready for performance, often presenting a different one each night of the week, supplemented by the preparation and rehearsal of new plays. 

“What this means is that at Amakhosi every Friday there has to be a theatre rep, meaning theatre repertory. This means we will be performing a new play every Friday. Every week we will have a new play by a new writer. 

“You remember Plays on Sunday? We’re launching it again on 1 July in ten different hubs in the western suburbs. So we will choose ten community halls where every Monday to Friday they will be performing a play at 4PM. When you’re a theatre rep your job is to perform and that is what they will be doing,” he said. 

According to Mhlanga after their training the new Amakhosi recruits would have to learn on the job.

“We’re training them between now and 1 July but from then onwards they will learn as they go. They’ll learn on stage. But not only that, when writers write they’re making stars so if you write your play we will assess it and decide who to cast and so your CV grows,” he said. 

While some have been bemoaning the death of community halls as spaces where raw art used to thrive, Mhlanga has instead seen them as opportunities to get bums on benches again as Amakhosi will spearhead their utilisation again. 

“They will go all over Bulawayo but on Fridays they will be here. However, on Fridays they will also be joined by other writers so from 2pm to 7pm we will have plays. All these will be one-act plays. If a writer is wow, we will then give them one hour. If they’re more wow we will then give them a series. If they get even better then we give them a heavy series like a historic play,” he said. 

Mhlanga also revealed that Amakhosi would be utilising its partnership with Skyz Metro, with the station set to dedicate an hour to Amakhosi radio plays every day. 

“These kids have already started working on a radio short (play). It was written by Nhlalo Dube and produced by Luke Mkandla. It will be playing on Skyz Metro. So that is also the new strategy at Amakhosi. From 1 July, Amakhosi will have one hour at Skyz Metro every day. It will be used to showcase the work of writers who have projects, writers who’re doing things,” he said.

Despite his optimism however, Mhlanga cautioned that the lack of writers could potentially throw a spanner in the works. 

“We don’t have writers for the historical series that people want. We have an oversupply of actors but no writers. So our strategy is that we’ll be importing directors. So it you write your script and its good then you progress to a one-hour play then we bring in a director from Harare, Mutare or wherever to direct the play. You won’t do it yourself,” he said.

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