ROOFTOP Promotions has dedicated the last part of its Theatre in the Park calendar to regional and international plays with the aim of promoting interaction between local and foreign theatre practitioners.
Report by Tinashe Sibanda Entertainment Reporter
The first play of the quota will combine local and regional talent in a play titled Ten Bush that opens at the park on November 6 to run until November 17.
On December 11, a Zambian play titled A Strange Internet Affair will premiere at the venue.
The play was done by Samuel Kasanga.
Next Tuesday, premiere of Ten Bush will give audiences a chance to see the power of international collaborations in theatre. Ten Bush was written and directed by veteran SA theatre practitioner Mncedisi Shabangu.
It will feature local theatre talent in the form Nothando Nobengula, Getrude Munhamo, Caroline Mashingaidze, Vusa Dzimasha, Anthony Mazhetese and Eddington Hatitongwe. It is produced by Daves Guzha.
“Ten Bush and A Strange Internet Affair are foreign productions to be featured in this year’s Theatre in the Park calendar. They come to fulfil the foreign quota set aside for regional and international plays,” said Guzha, who is also director of Rooftop Promotions.
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Ten Bush is set in an ancient settlement surrounded by sugar cane farms near SA’s border with Swaziland.
It tells a story of a village built on the graves of the nine Swazi chiefs who were betrayed by the tenth chief, Malaza, during a battle with the Sothos hundreds of years ago.
Since then, the village, which is called Ten Bush, has been cursed with poverty and famine, and the first daughter from Malaza’s line has been barren.
Martha, Malaza’s heir, is tasked to lift the curse by sacrificing her unborn daughter in a move of appeasing the departed ancestors who still haunt Ten Bush.
But Martha is barren and so orders her sister to sleep with her husband instead — a decision that has consequences neither Martha nor any of the other inhabitants of Ten Bush could have foreseen.
A tale of betrayal, revenge, conspiracy and forbidden young love, this production has been written and directed in a physical theatre style that draws from African traditions.
Guzha said he is honoured to work with his regional counterparts in their last two plays of the year.
“The plays are pure pieces of art and we are really honoured to have Mncedisi and Kasanga agree to come and do the plays and most importantly to share their theatre experiences with Zimbabwean practitioners.”
