Yesterday was the first day of HIFA and somehow I managed to squeeze in 5 shows which is impressive seeing as I have a day job.

First up was Kupenga Kwa Hamlet with the really, really fabulous Denton Chikura and Tonderai Munyevu. Their performance at the Standard Theatre was electric and the capacity crowd enjoyed every minute of it, especially the surprising end. Go see it!

Next was The Juggler, Mark Nizer. Mark is a great performer and had the audience eating out of his hands, both when he had hands full of juggling balls AND when they were empty! Part of the joy of Mark’s performance was his humour and friendliness. He said how much he loves coming to Zimbabwe and praised Zimbabweans for being real can do people. Mark encountered a host of challenges during his first show mainly brought on by the fact that his lap top died during his travels and he had to do as well as he could without it.

Hero at 6pm in the Standard Theatre is a wonderful production performed by Craig Morris and directed by Andrew Buckland. Last year I saw Blood Orange and decided that I’ll see Anything that Andrew has been involved in.

From Hero we went on to Carmina Burana, the opening show. On our way in we bought a bucket of ice and a bottle of chardonnay and found our friends in the throng of folk who had turned out for what is usually the highlight of HIFA. I loved the singing which was rousing and beautiful but I was left disappointed by the performance and the visuals surrounding the singing. I got a text message from a friend late last night saying that she had gotten bored by the show. My boredom was kept at bay by the incredibly beautiful Zimbabwean night sky and the group of people I was with. I have to say though that we spent a lot of time talking amongst ourselves and listening to the music rather than watching the show.

It was a case of leaving the very best to last. A friend persuaded me to drop by Reps Theatre in Avondale to see Jutro, a South Africa production brought to Zimbabwe by the Embassy of Israel. It’s the story of a singer in a rundown night club during World War II. HIFA has only been going for a day but so far, if you see anything, see Jutro!

This entry was posted on April 28th, 2010 at 10:19 am by Bev Clark and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.