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Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Correspondent
A NEW dawn arose in the arts sector over the weekend as youthful Bulawayo based arts outfit Stanslavysky were crowned the 2021 Geraldine drama competition champions.

The Stanslavysky were followed on second position by Roar that set out a well-choregraphed Accapela musical act while Jahunda Community Arts took position three from a narrative theatrical piece. In position four was Vulindlela Arts, position five Loxion Theatre, position six Colada and position seven Pezhuba Pachena.

Best director award went to Vulindlela director Michael Kanyika whereas best actress and actor went to Vulindlela’s Simepina Nyoni and Jahunda Community Arts’ Zhezhingtonz respectively. Stanslavysky also won in the supporting actress category through Lindiwe Mlazi and Jahunda Community Arts doubled their prizes with the best supporting actor gong through Kukhanyakwenkosi “Ganja” Mkandla. In the vicinity of a confined crowd due to Covid-19 regulations, the youngsters from Stanslavysky gave out a well-polished act that was buttressed around the theme, “pandemics and their effects to arts industry.”

From the moment they stepped on stage, their energy was felt in the audience that included veteran arts guru Cont Mhlanga and William Nyandoro. A play centred around the AIDS and Covid-19 pandemic was to follow with par excellence being a clear depiction of its roll out.

An approximately 20-minute showcase of a girl who was born with AIDS and found solace in music as a musician made the arts group walk away the biggest winners. The girl suffers prejudice from her director who uses social media to publicise her HIV status after a failed sexual intercourse attempt by the director.

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The play directed by youthful Michael Muderere gave the theme’s attention to detail and also met the competition’s goal of using drama and film to deliver messages and raise awareness on issues affecting communities while at the same time, sharpening drama skills, especially among youths.

Speaking on the sidelines of the event on Saturday afternoon, Geraldine Roche project coordinator, Khaliphile Sibanda said they are pleased with this year’s competitiveness. “This year’s competition saw diverse ages among groups from young ones as little as 7 years old to artistes over 50 years and this is a great sign that our drama industry is in safe hands as the future generation is active.

“The fact that a youthful group won attests to the vision of our competition of promoting the growth of the industry,” said Sibanda. She said with the opening of the arts sector they will bring out more activities in catching up on lost time last year as the theatre world was put on hold in terms of live audiences.

“The top three winners are set to get a paid-up performance ranging from one month to three months and we hope when the arts sector fully opens, these shows will be bigger and better,” she said.-@mthabisi_mthire