SILENT VOICES UGANDA presents A FEST OF 10 MINUTES PLAYS FROM 48 HOURS IN...HARLEM (2014)
Fri Jul 20, 19:00 - Sun Jul 29, 22:00
Uganda National Theatre
ABOUT
10 DIRECTORS FROM ACROSS AFRICA TO DIRECT 5 PLAYS ABOUT BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS
In July 2018, 10 aspiring Theatre Directors from four (4) African countries shall gather in Kampala, Uganda for a theatre training program that shall be concluded in a Fest of Five 10 minute plays produced by Silent Voices Uganda (SVU).
The call for aspiring and beginner theatre directors went out on 1st February 2018, receiving multiple applications, from which a selection of 8 aspirants was made from across Africa. The first of its kind on the continent, our Theatre Directors’ Apprenticeship shall train; TAKUNDA Maravanyika Kramer (Zimbabwe), AKINYI Sarah Masese and KIGUNDA Phanuel Gachuri (Kenya), WANDYAKA Richard, NSUBUGA Nicholas, GAABA Lakel Maria and MUGABI Jamil (Uganda) and HAMED Ahmed (Egypt).
Our alumni directors who are also trainers this year, NITUMWESIGA Patience and MWANJA Allan Samuel from 2016’s program shall enrich the apprenticeship with a peer to peer approach to director training. Adong Lucy Judith, SVU’s Artistic Director and TED Fellow 2017, shall take Lead Director and Trainer. After successfully training 20 Ugandan theatre directors in 2016 and 2017, 2018’s program has set precedent for our future programs to cover the rest of Africa.
2018’s apprentices are scholars and masters graduates of Performing Arts with an affinity for storytelling, who shall use the apprenticeship to harness their theatre making skills. Mugabi who is currently writing a Monologue Album, featuring various ‘talking’ animals, believes this apprenticeship shall allow him to grow, as he has always marveled at the power of theatre and the rawness with which it captures human experiences.
Zimbabwe’s Takunda holds a BA in Acting from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, a Master’s in Theatre Arts Performance, University of East London (2013), he is currently working on his Master of Philosophy thesis based on developing a new performance methodology focused on Zimbabwean politics and theatre, and is optimistic about the prospect of directing in Uganda.
Adong, who shall direct Shadow of An Angel by JASON Holtham, says focusing on theatre directors is guided by the “challenge in theatre directing leadership that has continued to affect the quality of theatre productions in Africa. It is our conviction that a director with a strong clear vision will have the sense to hire skills in other production departments from related fields, and make a worthy production.”
Nitumwesiga shall direct Keepers by NIKKOLE Salter and Better Than Yellow by JAMES Scruggs. Mwanja shall direct For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Colored Girls When What Was Wasn’t Enough by JESSE Cameron Alick, and All OK by PIA Wilson. The plays written by black playwrights living in the USA shall be used for the training. The directors’ task is to creatively explore interpretations of how these American stories of black consciousness translate within African context.
This production is set for stage at Uganda National Theatre on Friday 20th, Saturday 21st, Sunday 22nd and Friday 27th, Saturday 28th to Sunday 29th (the last two weekends) of July 2018. Standard tickets are 35,000/- with an early bird offer of 30,000/-, and 50,000/- Ugx for VIP. Tickets are available for purchase online with Quicket and at partner offices; Alliance Francaise and Goethe Zentrum Kampala (on Bukoto Street, Kamwokya), Endiro Café in Kisementi and Design Hub, Industrial area, Kampala.
Synopsis
In the face of the Black Lives Matter Struggles, 6 Contemporary Black Playwrights express their rich varied voices on Black Consciousness today as inspired by 6 Powerful Classical Feature Length Plays written by 6 Renowned Classical Black Playwrights- James Baldwin’s Blue for Mr. Charlie, Lorraine Hansberry’s Les Blancs, Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky, Zora Neale Hurston’s Color Struck, Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf and the first ever Science Fiction (SCI-FI) play to grace the Uganda National Theatre Auditorium, inspired by Charles Randolph’s Blues.
Eccentric avant-garde Ugandan fashion designer, Xenson shall evoke the Sci-Fi play Keepers, with costumes out of his unconventional creations and experimental expression. Legendary and iconic Ugandan musician, composer and producer Kaz Kasozi, shall bring his electric compositions to our stage and vocal power house/three time nominee at the Viga Awards, Sandra Ssubi, shall also grace the stage with her giftedly lustrous vocals in an Afro-Jazz music piece that carries audiences through the journey of the play’s world.
The whole show is a 2 hour long production featuring the five 10 minute plays and two of our celebrated 30 minute pieces, Blood and Holy Maria which return to Ugandan theatre after touring Harare, Zimbabwe’s Theatre in The Park in October 2017.
Zimbabwe’s GUTU Lisa, actress, singer and writer comes to Uganda after receiving applause for her performance as lead character, Anna-Maria, in Holy Maria during that Harare tour, and Kenya’s Githingi Nice, with 5 acting awards and over 20 plays to her versatile portfolio will join Ugandan talents including BBUMBA Robert Ernest, one of Uganda’s best actors on screen and stage, MUWANGALA Tonny, seasoned actor, producer and journalist, most known for the Point Blank segments on NTV in its early days, KERYEKO Pamela, who is popular for her roles in drama series The Hostel and Coffee Shop and started her acting career with the Obsessions, a theatre group born of Namasagali Alumni, and BYAMUKAMA Bryan Powers, who most recently starred in Francis Imbuga’s Aminata directed by Nigerian Director Freeman Moses.
Our 2018 cross regional talent and cultural diversity enriches the apprenticeship by truly embracing the spirit of Africa. Beyond training and production, we are optimistic about interactions growing into more prospects for collaboration. Appreciating our likeness and similarities as Africans; despite intercultural dissimilarities, cross border differences and regional diversity, the directors shall in unity create innovative approaches to how the black playwrights’ stories and issues of black consciousness reflect on African society.
DIRECTIONS
SILENT VOICES UGANDA presents A FEST OF 10 MINUTES PLAYS FROM 48 HOURS IN...HARLEM (2014)
Uganda National Theatre
Said Barre Ave, Kampala, Uganda
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