This is a must see at HIFA. If there are any tickets left, grab a few now. Patrice Naiambana is an extremely gifted performer. With some terrific acting he led us though a variety of emotions: outrage, shock, discomfort and denial. And then he also had us in stitches, particularly with his rendition of an African dictator. The only thing it could do with is being shorter. And whatever you Do, don’t pick up the telephone!

Zimbabwe’s very own Rina Mushonga is trying to crowdfund her summer tour in Europe. Follow this link to find out more and to watch a very cool little video that stars Rina herself. Have to say that I’m not quite sure how we’d donate a dollar or two . . . Rina if you’re touring cyberland, tell us more.

Hats off to Zane E. Lucas for his adaptation of the musical, Rent. I went to the matinee last Saturday and have to say that I was blown away by both the talent on the stage, as well as Zane’s direction. I’ve heard rumours that audiences tended to thin out after interval but not on the afternoon I went. This surprised me because the majority of the audience were old age pensioners (OAPs) who I thought would be shocked out of their seats. Instead they held their ground and took great and particular delight in Angel’s performance, Zimbabwe’s best ever high kicking drag queen. The singing was strong all round, and I’m pleased to see that Josh has got some competition as leading male actor in the form of Zoran Zec. More please Zoran. And more please also from Erin J. Housam who wowed me with her piece, Over The Moon. She Must win an award for one of the best cameos I’ve seen on stage in Zimbabwe.

One small bug bear … some of the band looked decidedly bored by the whole affair. I saw a guitarist sucking on what looked like a bottle of Energade but it didn’t do anything to perk him Up. The band, when they’re visible and on stage, are a part of the performance, so best keep them in the dark if they can’t match the energy of the actors.

I recently watched Tyler Perry’s movie, “For Colored Girls“. This movie is based on Ntozake Shange’s stage play, ‘For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow Is Enuf“. The movie opens with an interesting approach . . . a series of voice-overs, with the lines of a poem serving as each woman’s interior monologue, until their voices layer over one another in a crescendo of despair.

A wonderful cast lines up for this movie Janet Jackson (Jo), Whoopi Goldberg (Alice), Thandie Newton (Tangie), Kimberly Elise (Crystal), Phylicia Rashad (Gilda), Anika Noni Rose (Yasmine), Kerry Washington (Kelly), Loretta Devine (Juanita). Macy Gray (Rose), Tessa Thompson (Nyla) and many others.

Each of the women portray one of the characters represented in the collection of twenty poems, revealing different issues that impact women in general, and women of color in particular. The movie contains scenes about child murder, rape, domestic abuse, an illegal abortion, prostitution, and infertility among others. My favourite part of the movie is towards the end when all the actresses gather and Juanita takes them thorough self-realization of their love’s worth. These are words from the end scene:

Juanita: Now, how many times have you heard your man say it don’t feel the same? My love is too beautiful to have it thrown back on my face.
Yasmine: I like that.
Juanita: Try one.
Yasmine: What?
Juanita: Well, I do it all the time in my class. You just say, “My love is too ____,” and you just fill in the blank.
Gilda: My love is too sanctified to have it thrown back on my face.
Kelly: My love is too magic to have it thrown back on my face.
Tangie: My love is too “Saturday Night” to have it thrown back on my face.
Jo: My love is too complicated to have it thrown back on my face.
Yasmine: My love is too music to have it thrown back on my face.
Juanita: Yes, and you remember that when a man tries to walk off with all your stuff!

And now for me: Zimbabwe my love for you is too sanctified to have it thrown back in my face. And I will remember this each time people’s rights and dignity are trampled on.

“If you watch cartoons these days you get this depressing feeling that it’s all been done before and it’s not new, and I think my idea takes a different angle. And how many movies do you get by an African screenwriter? How many cartoons do you get by an African screenwriter? I think Africa is a market that the West needs to tap into right now. ” – Mirirai Moyo, on why she wants her story, Belonging made into an animated film.

She went on to say:

“The government gives so much money for soccer or sports events and this is only 90 minutes and then it’s over. You invest in art, literature, for example, lasts forever. The government needs to invest in the arts. There are so many kids out there who can write. One of the things that I find frustrating is the way people treat writing like a hobby. I was watching a movie with a friend, and at some point the main character says he’s a writer and the old lady who lives upstairs goes; “Isn’t that a hobby?” then my friend says ‘Yah, but I’ve always thought it’s a hobby’. But I’m like you think that at some point I’m going to fold up my books and do something serious, are you implying that this is not serious?’

We need to appreciate that people can make a living from art. Not everybody wants to be a professor, or lecturer or an accountant. People want to do different things and we need to invest in the creative industry. And you know ZIFA has got ZIFA village, all they need to do is start a writer’s village somewhere. I mean why is it that they don’t want to invest in the arts? What are they afraid of?”

- Mirirai Moyo on government investment in the arts

To celebrate Dambudzo Marechera’s posthumous 59th birthday this year, Zimbabwean writer, editor, and anthologist, Ivor Hartmann (administrator of the official Dambudzo Marechera fan page on Facebook – endorsed by The Dambudzo Marechera Trust – with over 5,000 fans and the only consistently updated web page solely focused on Marechera), will be compiling an anthology entitled and themed Remembering Marechera. It will consist of essays, reviews, short stories, poems, etc. that follow the title/theme.

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