BAMBELELA Theatre arts ensemble of Bulawayo entertained crowds with their their play The Civil Servant at the Hurunwge Arts Festival that kicked off in Karoi at the weekend. MILTON SITHOLE OWN CORRESPONDENT
The ensemble’s director Witness Tavarwisa told Southern Eye that the Hurunwge Arts Festival is a multi-discipline arts show organised by Baptism of Fire of Karoi that caters for dance, theatre, poetry, comedy and music.
“We were representing Matabeleland region with our theatre production entitled The Civil Servant, a play penned and directed by Thabani Hillary Moyo and also featuring Leonard Phiri, Josphat Ndlovu, Bongelani Ncube and Nokwanda Sibanda,” Tavarwisa said.
“To us it is an honour having been invited for the two-day festival. We don’t take it lightly or for granted; it gave us an opportunity to meet with other creatives from other provinces.
“We were given a five-star hospitality and treatment and this gave us a chance to explore and showcase our work in a communal area.”
According to Tavarwisa, the presentation of The Civil Servant production was relevant to the audiences as most were civil servants that could relate with what was happening.
“After the performance, most of the people approached us to thank us for talking about their plight.
“It really was refreshing and an encouragement and confidence booster as our audiences managed to identify themselves with the play.
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The Civil Servant is the story of Elton who when faced with imminent retirement from the public service comes to realise the truth that he has failed to achieve his dreams,” Moyo said.
Elton becomes paranoid and irritable.
“All he can show for his 37 years of service are invalid insurance policies that expired due to currency devaluation.
“What also compounds the situation are his two sons, Elvis and Themba, failing to make a mark in life.
“Elton dreads the coming back of the Zimbabwe dollar. He fears that his retirement package might come in the form of a ‘dead currency’.
“To save himself from this predicament and in the process do his failed sons a favour, Elton decides to commit suicide so that his sons could get his package in United States dollars.
“Maybe that is what happens when a man doesn’t have a grip on the forces of life.
“It is after his funeral that his wife Khaya comes to realise that being a civil servant is a thankless job because not many people attend his funeral as it had been anticipated,” Moyo explained.”
