the Developing Arts Project and Hifa Direct, a British Council initiative that premiered both plays at the recent Harare International Festival of the Arts 2011.
The opening will see three plays – “Burn Mukwerekwere Burn”, a play by Developing Arts Project, “The Comeback” and “Colours of Dreams” that were done by Hifa Direct.
They will run ialternately in the park from Friday to June 5, 2011 everyday starting at 5.30pm. Tickets are going for US$3 for the general public and US$2 for artists and students.
Theatre in the Park has in the past given life to Hifa Direct plays after Hifa by staging such plays as “Wedding Day”, the award-winning “Loupe” and “Election Day” which have all proved the worth of young writers, directors and actors in Zimbabwe.
According to Daves Guzha, the producer of Rooftop Promotions, the overwhelming support they got during Hifa and the demand for these local productions to have a longer than the previous lifespan has prompted his theatre company to rerun the plays.
“These three plays will be premiered at Theatre in the Park with the intention of exposing these plays to a new and wider audience after Hifa. For most theatre artistes, Theatre in the Park has remained the ultimate venue, which exposes them to not just theatre buffs but to directors, the media, diplomats and many other contacts that push them to the next level in their careers.”
“Burn Mukwerekwere Burn” was written by Blessing Hungwe, a writer, actor and director who has been involved in Hifa in the past and has also featured in or written productions staged at Theatre in the Park.
It was directed by Giles Ramsay, a high-profile independent international theatre director and producer who has been a regular contributor to Hifa in the past as part of the Developing Artists Project, which has promoted exposure of Zimbabwean theatre talent globally.
According to the synopsis, the play is about xenophobia in South Africa where the term “kaffir” created by apartheid with “Mukwerekwere” created by post-independence South Africans as they refer to illegal immigrants mostly from Zimbabwe.
“Two young Zimbabweans who run away from home discover the harsh realities in the rainbow nation when South Africa erupts into an orgy of xenophobic violence. Finding shelter in the oddest of places they are forced to examine their situation and reflect on their predicament as they try and journey to safety wherever that may be.
“The two are forced to deal with their own tribal issues as they share their inspirations and frustrations.”
“The Comeback” was written by Sifiso Mabena, an actress from Bulawayo who attended Rhodes University, where she joined the university’s Theatre Company.
She is an emerging writer and this is her first play. Directed by Leeroy Gono, a Theory X graduate who has been involved in many Hifa plays most notably Revolutionary Avenue, it is a play that centred on an idealist character trying to reverse irrevocable wrongs who seemed reminiscent of the famous literary character, Don Quixote.
Tatenda Mangosho, a UZ honours in theatre arts graduate who made his debut appearance as an actor at Theatre in the Park last year, assists Leeroy in directing.
“It is a touching story of a young woman who returns home from the UK to rediscover herself and touch base with her roots after a miserable and rather unsuccessful stint abroad.
“She wants to pick up the pieces of her broken life through a musical show in which she is starring called The Comeback. Yet she also has to deal with haunting images and memories of her not so rosy Diaspora experiences which she would love to forget in a hurry but in vain,” reads the synopsis.
“Colour of Dreams” was written by the award-winning duet of Christopher Mlalazi and Eunice Tava. The play features reigning Nama Best Theatre Actor Teddy Mangawa alongside fast-growing award-winning screen and stage actress Evangelista Mwatse who is coming from an impressive performance in “365” at Theatre in the Park.
Another actress, Olivia Chipindu, has featured in a number of productions, notably “Conquered Plans” by Stanley Mambo and Tafadzwa Bob Mutumbi who played 20 in the award-winning “Election Day”.
In “Colour of Dreams”, the economy has collapsed along with the dreams and needs of a schoolteacher, a former money changer and their wives in Zimbabwe.
But a glimmer of hope has risen in the form of a “classified” rumour about the return of the Zimbabwe dollar that has emanated from the moneychanger’s highly placed connections.
With this rumour also comes a re-living of the long shadows of their dreams and fears for the future as the characters start to imagine the old ways and other opportunities of making money. They see a new leaf of life with the return of the local currency as they recall the days of “burning” and spinning money.

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