BY TENDAI SAUTA ZIMBABWE Theatre Association chairperson and founder of Dendere Arts, Getrude Zvenhamo says local theatre is slowly recovering from the jaws of the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19-induced lockdowns choked the creative sector and closed all its spaces.
“The COVID-19 plight brought a new understanding of ourselves. As an industry, we have been awoken to a world of doing things in a different way from the usual,” Zvenhamo said.
“We learnt to perform theatre pieces virtually, reaching wider audiences through sharing our work on various online platforms, while also making money.”
Zvenhamo said if well-supported, the theatre sector was an ecosystem that could bring returns even to the national fiscus.
“Constructing resilient infrastructure would help to establish a strong arts industry. So, my recommendation to the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) and the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Arts and Recreation is to build a national theatre for us. Funds that can be raised from the national theatre can, therefore, be channelled to the arts sector for various projects and programmes,” she said.
Zvenhamo, who continues to shine and make great strides locally and internationally, believes creating partnerships with the corporate world can propel the sector to international standards and be able to compete with other nations.
“My first professional performance that got me paid was in Sinners in 2010, a play penned by Patrick Chasaya,” she said.
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She performed in the play alongside award-winning female actresses Eunice Tava and Charity Dlodlo at Theatre in the Park, courtesy of Rooftop Promotions. Since then, she has not stopped working hard to build her brand in the creative sector.
“From 2010, my career took a turn as I began to write plays through the guidance of theatre guru Daves Guzha. My first play was Lamentations @12 which premiered at Theatre in the Park and later toured Zimbabwe, Africa, United Kingdom and Netherlands.
“I now sit on the International Theatre Institute of Zimbabwe board as the developmental officer under the leadership of Zaza Muchemwa. I am currently the first ever female chair of the Zimbabwe Theatre Association working with a vibrant team,” Zvenhamo said.
Her prowess in the creative sector has largely been the driving force behind her earning international recognition.
She was recently nominated to represent African female playwrights at the African Women Playwrights Network residency set for Warwick University, United Kingdom. She also represented Zimbabwe at the Sustainable Development Goals ResiliArt Earthsaving Global summit in Manila, Philippines in December last year where she performed a theatre piece called Withered.
From the Philippines, she went on to represent southern Africa at a theatre roundtable on Theatre and Livelihood at the Bibu Festival held in Sweden in May this year.
The award-winning Zvenhamo said the introduction of the Continuous Assessment Learning Activity (Cala) by government in schools had brought creativity in learning institutions.
“There is now a lot of creativity and professional spheres due to the liberty that comes with this Cala policy. Children now think outside the box and that does not leave the creative sector and theatre behind.
“We also have organisations like the Zimbabwe Theatre Association, International Theatre Institute among others which are the custodians of this sector. They continue to roll out programmes for the advancement of the up-and-coming artists through skills transfer, workshops and opportunities to grow,” she added.
The Zimbabwe Theatre Association is behind several theatre festivals such as the Mitambo International Festival, Intwasa Festival, the Hurungwe Arts Festival and the Nyamatsatse Festival, among others.
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