Mbabane – Eswatini’s creativity took centre stage at the October International Theatre Festival premiere on Thursday.
The Mbabane Theatre Club came alive for the premiere of the October International Theatre Festival (OITF), sponsored by Genesis Ekucaleni Media. The event followed a series of theatre masterclasses held in different parts of the capital.
Master of Ceremonies Mduduzi ‘Mdura’ Dlamini welcomed guests with light-hearted jokes, saying Mbabane was the country’s only true capital because a capital needed a theatre club. He then introduced Lizwe the Musician, who gave a moving rendition of ‘Ndiyanxonxoza’. The vocalist collaborated with local pianist Siya, in a performance that entertained the audience.
After the set, South African veteran actor Bheki Mkhwane spoke on behalf of the creatives. “I am truly blessed to stand in front of everyone and speak for creatives. All I want to speak about is the experience of such festivals. It is vitally important to bring artists together at such festivals to share their art because art is for sharing. I come from South Africa and it always hurts me to see that artists do not share their work. Either they are threatened by other talent or they are selfish. I want all the other artists here today to know that we need to hold each other’s hands and tell each other’s stories because it is sad that our children do not know our narrative,” Mkhwane said.
Dlamini also introduced local creative Thobile Makhoyane, who delivered an exceptional performance. Makhoyane experimented with her sound, captured the audience’s attention and received a standing ovation.
Mbabane Chief Executive Officer Gciniwe Fakudze welcomed creatives from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. “I wanted to borrow Thobile’s words. When she was performing, she said you had all brought warmth and colour to the theatre club. I want to extend that and say you have brought warmth and colour to the city. When we launched this, I said something that remains true. By God, I pray and hope that, a couple of years down the line, it will manifest and I will not have to say it because you will see it, feel it and experience it,” Fakudze said.
Fakudze said the council needed to revive city spaces for Mbabane to become truly vibrant.
“When I talk about life, I generally talk about this theatre. When I started working in Mbabane, I visited this theatre and the vision and ideas they had for it could blow your mind. At the back of my mind, I wondered whether they understood that we were building from scratch. However, walking into this theatre this evening has sparked something in my spirit: The vision is achievable. This theatre can come alive, be filled to the brim daily and host events as often as we want, but it needs people like you who dare to support local,” she said.
Fakudze said filling the theatre was now their biggest challenge because some people believed local productions were not good enough or polished enough. “We cannot change if we do not change that mentality as emaSwati. We need to learn to applaud each other. We need to learn to attend, even if you are the only person sitting in that room. The city’s vision is to create thriving spaces where Thobile can be nervous when she starts but, through the energy she draws from the room, can blossom, deliver and move you to realise that we can also support your dream. Dare to dream,” she said.
The OITF continues today with a street bash along Dzeliwe Street in Mbabane, where the public is invited to celebrate creativity.
