THE WIND OF THEATRE HAS CHANGED The weekend of 20th and 21st September 2013 was an interesting one for the theatre loving class of the Zambian society. The Lusaka play house hosted a theatrical drama play titled “married virgin” by Bantu theatre. Married virgin is a story concerning a couple which just wedded and before they could consummate their marriage on their first night. The man gets hit with a stroke freezing 90% of his body. He remains a human cabbage for two years in the house while the wife gets frustrated upon not getting that which she spent years waiting for and is tempted into an affair resulting into a pregnancy. The epitome of the play occurs when the man rises from the wheel chair to the realization of all that he has been following all activities in the house and only faked the stroke to avoid coitus with his much loved new wife for fear of his HIV status discovered five days before their marriage. Plain as the story may seem. It was undoubtedly well executed much to the amazement of the patrons and me. The interesting part about this production is that it does not trade on big names. The writer and main actor Leo Simukoko is not a household name but without missing any words the guy is fairly beyond brilliance. He did great justice to his own script by convincingly playing a stroke patient confined to a wheel chair for more than an hour on set. The play’s director Francis Malunga, played a house boy and was definitely the audience‘s favorite. Lastly the ladies, Wendy Michelo and Mwila Mwaba double casted with Chisola Chiteta did very well to complete the cycle. The piece was undoubtedly an interesting piece. I have seen more than eight (8) plays this year at the Lusaka play house and I must admit the wind of theatre is quickly changing. The new and upcoming groups are doing beyond expectation while the old and seasoned groups are to a larger extent playing below expectation. In my opinion, this must be a wakeup call. No more names I guess. I am very sure groups like Yangana Arts, Matero Theatre and Bantu Theatre will be the highlights at the NATAAZ Theatre festivals next month end in Mufulira Next week on Friday 4th and Saturday 5th October 2013, the Lusaka Play House will again host a play “BROTHER ON THE CROSSROADS” by another new and amazing group Matero Theatre and Media Arts. BROTHERS ON THE CROSSROAD is a must watch real life super story involving two brothers torn between love and family; after the death of their father, one of the brothers chooses the negatives path of lawlessness ending up in jail. The other brother chooses the positive path with the job in the Police Service. Hell breaks loose when the jailed brother is released seven years later to find that his brother unknowingly married a girl, the jailed brother left pregnant. He comes back to make amends with his past life and take back that which he thinks belonged to him. The play is written by Bizwell Mudenda (2012 NGOMA nominee & author of “Fig tree in the wrong field”) and directed by Darius Lombe (2011-2013 schools festival best director). The producer is Sydney Siafwa assisted by Joseph Chileshe on behalf of Matero Theatre and Media Arts Society.
Posted on: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 08:02:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015