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Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Correspondent

AFTER successfully premiering the Dick Print play at Bulawayo Theatre at the start of the month, Bulawayo-based director, John Mabuyane will be taking his production to Harare as he seeks to create consistent dialogues on challenges that men face in society.

The play is expected to premiere at Harare’s Jasen Mphepo Little Theatre on June 26 at 6PM.

Dick Print is a collaboration between Mabuyane and Elton Sibanda, a man who identified his talent as an actor, screenwriter, director and producer.

Mabuyane said he is happy he was able to give a polished act during his debut performance as this saw him land a spot to showcase his art in Harare in an initiative that is in collaboration with Nhimbe Trust.

“It was my first time portraying so many characters alone on stage. One handers are always rated the most difficult because of their nature. You have to engage the audience and entertain them and win their attention with your perfume and be able to command them to laugh, cry or sympathise with you.

“I was very nervous at first, but I just gave it my all and unlocked the inner me. I realised how far I could go as an actor through this performance. The sky is not the limit as nothing can limit a dreamer thus I’m confident I’ll shine in Harare,” said the enthusiastic actor.

John Mabuyane

Cultural lobby organisation, Nhimbe Trust’s director Josh Nyapimbi said: “Mabuyane and Sibanda are graduates of the Nhimbe Trust Children in Theatre and Television (CITT) programme and we are excited that they continue make groundbreaking strides by creating high quality productions.

“We’re happy to be associated with this work and hopefully, we’re going to have the production well received in Harare after its successful debut at Bulawayo Theatre. We’re also hoping it’ll make an appearance at the Bulawayo Arts Festival next month,” said Nyapimbi.

Mabuyane who is behind the scriptwriting of award-winning short-films Scars and Amanxeba made his acting debut last year on the international award-winning film Gonarezhou where he played the role of a waiter.

On Dick Print, he revisits his first love, theatre, with a hard-hitting controversial play that promises to blow the Harare audiences minds, win their sympathy, make them laugh, start a dialogue and above all, bring people back to the theatre.

The play’s zeal is to push male stories as much as the push of feminist movements as both genders have problems.

Commenting on the Harare premiere, theatre coordinator for Jasen Mphepo Little Theatre, Caroline Magenga said: “As the Jasen Mphepo Little Theatre, we’re very excited to be hosting the Dick Print play production. This is the first live performance we’ll be hosting since Covid-19 hit last year.

“All along we’d resorted to uploading our productions on the Patsime TV YouTube channel so this is really exciting for us. We would, in the same vein, like to encourage our theatre fans to save the date, come through and enjoy as it’s promising to be an interesting production.” –

@mthabisi_mthire