Showbiz Reporter
Theatre lovers will be in for a rare treat at the Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo next week as Rooftop Promotions — a top theatre production company based in Harare will be bringing their latest production, Taking a Spirit Home. The intriguing script written by renowned writer Stephen Chifunyise, is directed and produced by theatre guru Daves Guzha.
The play, which will be shown at the Bulawayo Theatre on September 24, is about the traditional rite – Kurova guva in Shona and Umbuyiso in Isindebele – of bringing the spirit of a man who was killed in South Africa.
Rooftop Promotions producer Guzha said the play was one which many Zimbabweans could relate to, especially those who have lost relatives who will have been staying outside the country. “In the play, a Shona man from Chivi working in Johannesburg is killed during the xenophobia disturbances in Johannesburg. His wife in South Africa decides to bury him at her home in KwaZulu. Almost a year after his death, the man’s parents send his nephew to Zululand to bring his spirit home so that an umbuyiso rite can be performed.
“The rite is performed to ensure that all inheritance issues are dealt with, including having his wife inherited. The nephew travels to KwaZulu and is allowed to take a stone from the grave of his uncle that becomes the container of his spirit to be taken home,” Guzha said.
He said the play portrays how Zimbabweans respect their culture and spiritual values. Guzha said the play has performing artistes from two highly successful productions Juju Soccer and The Past is for the Future. “After we successfully ran two of our plays, the hilarious Juju Soccer and the emotional The Past is for the Future with some of Zimbabwe’s finest and most sought after actors and actresses, Rooftop Promotions is combining the cast from both plays into one production. The cast includes Eunice Tava, Lisa Gutu, Mandla Moyo and Dereck Nziyakwi.”
Other plays that will feature at the festival are Without a Name (September 21 and 25), My Hands are Clean (September 25), Today it’s Me (September 24) and Celebrate Africa (September 22).