BY WINSTONE ANTONIO
ARTS for development organisation Savanna Trust’s theatre piece Ukama has been nominated in three categories at this year’s edition of the annual National Arts Merit Awards set for March 23 at the Harare International Conference Centre.
The play received nominations for the outstanding theatrical production, outstanding actor and outstanding actress awards.
The trust’s director Daniel Maposa told NewsDay Life & Style that the nomination was a great honour that encouraged them to continue working hard.
“This is great. The Ukama nomination is our third nomination in six years and of late we have been winning the gongs in our nominations,” he said.
“Ukama is a well-crafted story that is delivered using magical realism and unfolds through dialogue and narration.”
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The play, written and directed by Bongani Masango, is set in rural Zimbabwe and explores issues of marriage and failure to conceive, family relations and urban as well as regional migration.
It features Charlene Mangweni, Heather Mlingo and Teddy Mangawa.
In the play, an ambitious 17-year-old orphaned girl Anaisha lives with her married sister and dreams of furthering her education beyond the borders of her village to unearth her dreams. Her sister and husband, after years of trying to conceive, see the young girl as an answer to their problem and devise a sinister plan to have her sleep with the husband. Tension and discomfort in the family follow as things fall apart.
Savanna Trust has to date clinched three NAMA awards for outstanding production with their plays Liberation (2016), Half Empty Half Full (2013) and Madam Speaker Sir (2010).