The Sunday Mail
Takudzwa Chihambakwe
“DECEMBER 16 was a memorable day, especially for our elders as the children took them back to the good old days,” Chipawo manager Chipo Basopo said as she reflected on the successful theatre production from her young troops at Theatre in the Park last week.
As per tradition, Chipawo children staged their end of year Christmas play which was dubbed “Christmas with the Legends”.
The production saw the children use flashbacks of various old school music and performances. Among the honoured were late arts legends like Simon Chimbetu, System Tazvida, Safirio “Mukadota” Madzikatire, Paraffin, Mutirowafanza, Ambuya Mlambo and Chiwoniso Maraire.
Basopo said the Christmas play is a clear indication that we should always treasure our culture and history.
“I was really overwhelmed with the performance because most of the children who participated are from the new millennium but they managed to bring back the buzz of the 80s.
“It is clear the children took time to research on each of the artiste’s history. What also excites me is the fact that with such an approach, we are preserving our cultural heritage. Our history will never be erased as generations change,” she added. The energy exuded by the Chipawo children during the show was phenomenal. If nurtured well, most of the group members will certainly constitute a great number of our future theatre stars.”
Chipawo children shared the stage with children from Chipawo’s sister organisation, CHIEZA, from Zambia.
One of the play directors and Chipawo product, Tinevimbo Chimbetete, said the youngsters showed great potential.
“We had very little time to rehearse with the children because the majority of them are in school, but I am very happy that with the close to one week we had to combine all the different elements, they managed to deliver a stellar performance, they are indeed stars in the making,” he said.
Every year since 1995, the Chipawo community has presented a Christmas show with a difference.
The show not only aims to provide an entertaining and enjoyable Christmas experience for its family audience; it also presents Christmas material with a difference — a Zimbabwean difference.
Christmas and its stories are presented through African and Zimbabwean idioms.
Meanwhile, Basopo said she hoped for bigger and better things in the coming year.
“2018 is going to be very exciting year for Chipawo. It’s a year of developing and rebranding our organisation. In 2019, Chipawo will be turning 30 years hence we have decided to start rebranding ahead of the three decade celebrations,” she said.
“We want to put Chipawo on another level of arts development for children and young people.”
There will be tours to the USA, Germany, Denmark, China and other countries. Chipawo is also planning to host a Sadc estival for children and young people in August. A new training programme for young arts theatre for early years is also in the pipeline.”
