The Sunday Mail
Takudzwa Chihambakwe
THEATRE lovers are in for a treat at the 12th edition of the annual Intwasa Festival slated to run from September 26 to October 1, 2016 at five venues across Bulawayo.
“Theatre has and continues to be part of our bigger programming. Theatre, music, and dance normally cover the bulk of our programming and by extension contribute significantly to our growth,” said festival director, Raisedon Baya.
“Some of the productions that will be showing at the festival include ‘Lamentions @12’ from Rooftop Productions, ‘Untikolotshe’ from Theatre for Everyone, ‘Women Without Husbands’ from Nhimbe Trust, ‘In The Continuum’ from the University of Zimbabwe, and two foreign productions that we cannot confirm now as negotiations are ongoing.
“Unlike other festivals, we don’t have headlines — we believe every production on the programme deserves to be there, and is good enough to be enjoyed by festival audiences. We always try to balance the new and the old, experienced and rookies.
“Though we are still finalising the programme in some areas, we always believe that each year brings with it new things. All theatre productions on offer this year are new to our platform. It will be interesting to see how the audiences react to these productions,” said Baya.
On how the festival is helping the development of theatre in the country and whether the quality of productions was improving, Baya said: “The festival is a marketing and networking platform, it also aids in professional development through workshops and other clinics. Quality fluctuates. I think it’s because most people are leaving the sector or country after being trained.”
Baya — who is also a playwright, director and producer — added that the theatre scene in Bulawayo had been very good this year and the future looked bright.
“Every month there has been something new, either from Nhlalo Dube’s Theatre for Everyone or from Bulawayo Theatre. It has been better than previous years.
“I believe there is a future for theatre but we just have to grow audiences and get to do works that will attract paying audiences.”
Fifty events are scheduled to take place during the festival, which will be running under the theme “Expressions”, and organisers have decided to host the event despite the tough economic environment which has resulted in other festivals such as Hifa failing to take off in 2016.
“Intwasa is a multi-discipline platform. We are about celebrating diversity. This year’s focus is celebrating and promoting diversity of expressions. Theatre being one of the expressions.”
Founded in 2005, the festival is the second largest arts event after Hifa and was created by local arts administrators with a vision of leading arts development and marketing Bulawayo as a cultural centre.
