The Sunday Mail
Two years after the closure of Harare’s centrally located and popular theatre venue, Theatre in the Park, there still is no place as ideal and busy as that tiny gazebo.
The void left by the venue has not been filled, theatre practitioners still scavenge for limited space elsewhere and activity in the industry is at an all time low.
So dire is the situation, Rooftop Promotions, the brand owners of Theatre in the Park, received 2 000 scripts in the last three months, as theatre practitioners responded to a recent call for plays.
However, dreadful as the situation may be, it appears the closure of Theatre in the Park in 2012 may have been a blessing in disguise — it has opened many people’s eyes.
Practitioners, who always complained that Rooftop Promotions director Daves Guzha had personalised the gazebo, failed to step up to the plate in his absence. Zimbabwe Book Fair, which controls the little gazebo, had indicated that they would hire it out to other theatre practitioners when they fell out with Guzha, but that too did not happen. It suddenly went quiet in the industry and most theatre aficionados in the capital have since forgotten what a good fresh play looks and sounds like.
Theatre practitioners expressed different views but were all in agreement that Guzha was at the forefront of theatre development in Zimbabwe.
Theatre director, Patience Tawengwa of Almasi Theatre, said no one had stepped in to provide an alternative vibrant theatre venue in the capital since the death of Theatre in the Park because no one has the capacity.
“Everyone is doing their own little thing in their own corner. But if all these people could come together, surely a venue would be found. The problem is we have similar aspirations but we are aspiring as individuals and not as a collective,” said Tawengwa. Tafadzwa Muzondo of Edzai Isu Theatre Initiative, a community theatre organisation based in Highfield, said the Zimbabwe Book Fair was always going to find it difficult to find a theatre practitioner to use the gazebo Guzha called Theatre in the Park for 17 years.
“In solidarity with Guzha no-one would walk into that venue and try to stage plays. Hate him or like him, the guy popularised that venue, it wasn’t even a theatre venue before him,” said Muzondo.
Arts and Culture consultant Melody Zambuko, who works with several organisations including the Harare International Festival of the Arts (Hifa), decried the lack of public spaces that are dedicated to arts and culture programmes.
“Everyone has felt the void that has been left by Theatre in the Park. But most of the space is owned by the City of Harare and one needs a very long conversation with the city fathers to get space. “I can tell you for a fact that Guzha himself did not start talking to them after his fallout with his previous landlord. These things take time, sometimes even up to five years. We need designated spaces for arts and culture but for us to have such conversations our associations have to be active.”
She, however, said she welcomes the imminent return of Theatre in the Park.
Last week, we tracked down Guzha who has been talking about the imminent opening of a new “state-of-the-art” venue for some time now.
Talk about changing rooms, on site offices, a proper stage and an increased seating capacity — the new venue, on paper, is the real deal.
The previous hired venue had a capacity of just 140 but the new place will accommodate 500. While at the old Theatre in the Park ablution facilities were a serious headache for patrons, the new venue will present no such problems.
The problem is it is not there yet, Guzha has been talking about it for quite a while now. With all the publicity the non-existent venue has received so far, one would be tempted to write ill of Guzha and team. But truth be told, Guzha has proved to be the only thespian with theatre at heart and is eager to see some infrastructure put in place to better the lives and careers of his colleagues, while at the same time taking the theatre industry to a new level.
Since he left the scene with his team, no one came in with a better idea or even equivalent. Festivals are now the source of action in theatre, otherwise it is mostly repeats or local plays being showcased at festivals outside Zimbabwe.
Guzha, who was recently in Europe seeking partnerships that would make the new venue swanky once it opens its doors, says the new venue should be fully operational by mid-September.
Guzha explained that things were beginning to look up as his major partner, Harare City Council, had finally given his organisation a letter of approval to construct the new home of theatre.
“We would have loved to have gotten things up a running a while ago but there are processes that needed to be completed first. We are glad though that our partners, the city council, have finally agreed to let us use the space we asked for.
“All that is left for us to do now is install additional material on the place to make it complete. We are not building anything, just installing a Bedouin tent, slab, terrace chairs, trusses, lighting and a stage,” he said.
Guzha said the tent, which was imported from New Zealand, came with a 20-year guarantee.
“Because of environmental issues concerning the Harare Gardens, we cannot build a permanent structure that damages the flora and fauna. This one is eco-friendly and that is what will make the new Theatre in the Park even better,” he said.While Guzha says he has 2 000 scripts and is working on children’s plays as well, he urged production houses that already have their plays to approach his team for consideration.
Guzha, whose recent trip took him to many European cities including Munich, which has a twinning arrangement with Harare, says the journey yielded good results.
“The Munich trip, which was undertaken with authorisation and moral support from the City of Harare Mayor’s office, has produced positive results as there was consensus from the director of Munich City Arts and Culture department that it was critical to extend technical support to the new Theatre in the Park.
