WERE you there when celebrated award-winning performers Charmaine Mujeri, Dalma Chiwevera, Tinevimbo Chimbetete as well as Jacob Mafuleni put up a realistic act of the theatrical play Song Unburied at Harare’s Theatre in the Park for two days?
The event was held on July 18 and 19 at the Harare Theatre in the Park, a venue now long overdue for a face-lift.
They say the first cut is the deepest and for highly-praised author and cultural commentator Panashe Chigumadzi, Song Unburied, being her first stage play, impressed the audience, who resultantly recommended that the production be developed into a film.
Those who missed out on the magnetic social re-establishment demanding theatrical play, which had a breakthrough as the first Zimbabwean play performed at South Africa’s State Theatre, will have to be at the Edinburgh Theatre Festival in August.
The play was directed by veteran theatre producer Daves Guzha and is a gripping narrative that intertwines Zimbabwe’s post-colonial struggles with the unresolved legacy of Mbuya Nehanda’s stolen remains.
It was during an open chat with the cast that Guzha, the director for RoofTop Promotions, somehow made an appeal before the audience, announcing that Theatre in the Park is soliciting for US$5 000 to face-lift the community of artist-owned venue.
He said the money would be spent on improving the sound and lighting systems, upgrading of the audience benches, polishing up the floors, rest rooms, ventilation and improvement of the backstage including the provision of WiFi and internet for artistes and paying visitors.
“We are in need of approximately US$5 000 to face-lift the Theatre in the Park so that it matches global standards. We have so far played host to musicians, theatre plays, church conferences, business meetings and several other occasions which utilise the facility at a very creative rate,” Guzha said.
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“We are, therefore, calling on all these communities, the corporate world, private voluntary organisations and donors in kind and cash to come in their strength and invest in this worthy cause.”
Back to Song Unburied, the play has a tight live musical accompaniment including enchanting needle drops.
The traditional and contemporary mbira music arrangements were originally done by Abel Mafuleni, who was away on an international tour.
Interestingly, his father, Jacob, a multi-faceted music instruments manufacturer, became the befitting replacement and provided a highly fluid and melodic clicking of songs like Karigamombe, Karimudande and Chamutengure, among others.
