The Sunday Mail
Takudzwa Chihambakwe
ALL is set for the second edition of the Doug Hill Schools Drama Festival set for Masvingo on July 20 and 21.
The festival is a platform that seeks to promote diverse drama performances with the goal of artistic growth, nurturing talent and youth engagement.
“The festival helps the scholars discover their artistry and hone their innate artistic skill,” saidassistant artistic director at the Charles Austin Theatre, Learnmore Masomere.
“We are all set for the festival, preparations are at an advanced stage and this year we are expecting more schools compared to last year when we had 16 schools. This year we are expecting over 20 schools at our two-day extravaganza,” he added.
The festival will also feature last year’s champions Gifford High School and second runners-up, Evelyn High School, both from Bulawayo.
“Besides growing from a provincial drama competition into a national phenomenon, the festival has also seen growth in terms of partnership and this year’s main partners are Nhimbe Trust and Save a Child, Save a Nation.”
Bizarrely, the festival is running without a theme.
“We do not have a theme that we are running with this year. We felt we wouldn’t want to limit the pupils’ imagination and creativity to focus on one theme, we want them to be as free as they can in sharing their stories.”
The top two schools will be taken to perform at the prestigious Intwasa Festival in Bulawayo courtesy of Nhimbe Trust.
