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Mthabisi Tshuma, [email protected]

PREPARATIONS are at an advanced stage for this year’s Mitambo International Theatre Festival (MITF) which will be held in the capital from 28 to 30 September.

The festival, which has proved to be one of the most important and enduring cultural events in Zimbabwe and the region, will be held under the theme “Converge”.

As part of its continued growth and evolution, MITF a brainchild of Zimbabwe Theatre Academy promises to be bigger and better.

The festival’s executive director Lloyd Nyikadzino said this year they seek to bring more than 5000 people together and unite in a common interest of peace building and social cohesion using the power of the arts.

“Mitambo will continue its inclusive approach, including not only theatre plays but also genres of music, poetry, performance art, dance, and new media forms. Mitambo International Theatre Festival is dedicated to continue to create a platform for the once in a lifetime experience and performances that are unique to our much respected audiences.

“Furthermore MITF serves as a safe platform for local and global communities to access and celebrate the diversity of cultural identity. Mitambo offers a forum through which young people, community, and social issues for example youth participation, climate change, gender-based violence, and drug abuse) are made accessible, explored, and re-described, using theatre as a safe vehicle for doing so,” he said.

Nyikadzino said this year’s lineup includes more than 15 highly anticipated performances from local, regional and international theatre makers.

“The plays will include plays like Woza Albert and Pina from South Africa, Butterfly from Switzerland and Features Conversations/Plumaticas from Canary Islands in Spain. The opening play I am was Marah, will be presented by the Zimbabwe Theatre Academy.

“The main performance spaces at the festival will include the main performance stage (Reps Main Theatre) and Fringe Stages (Reps Theatre Upstairs). The festival team is working tirelessly to make sure the event is being curated carefully to cater for everyone from school goers and adults so that it will be memorable to everyone who will attend. The tickets for the main stage and Theatre Upstairs are being sold through the Reps box office and they will be discount for school children and pensioners,” said Nyikadzino.

@mthabisi_mthire