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Daves Guzha

Sophia Chese
Theatre in the Park organisers, Rooftop Promotions, are set to engage the corporate world as they seek to finish the ongoing renovations at the new venue in the Harare Gardens.

The renovations are already at an advanced stage.

In an interview with The Herald Entertainment, Rooftop Promotions spokesperson Robert Tapfumaneyi said they were engaging the corporate world on Thursday for a breakfast meeting that is set to map the way forward.

“We are going to have a breakfast meeting on Thursday and we are going to invite a number of companies so that we will engage those who are willing to be part of us like what Alliance Franciers did.

“It is at that breakfast meeting that we are going to discuss a number of things concerning Theatre in the Park so I do not want to pre-empt what we are going to discuss today,” he said.

He highlighted that they were also going to have a tour of the venue after the discussions.

The vibrant Theatre in the Park programme took a sabbatical in 2012 due to a misunderstanding over the venue that they were using.

Back then, plays were performed in at a gazebo in Harare Gardens which belongs to the Zimbabwe International Book Fair (ZIBF).

In November 2012, ZIBF and Theatre in the Park organisers, Rooftop Promotions, got into a nasty fallout over the venue that saw the theatre schedule being disrupted and the City Council chipped in offering another place as venue for Theatre in the Park.

Meanwhile, Theatre in the Park is notable for producing some of the country’s most exciting plays and talented theatre practitioners.

Notable actors and actresses that have graced the famed stage include the late Walter Muparutsa, the late Sebastian Maramba, Zenzo Nyathi, O’brian Mudyiwenyama, Jasen Mpepho, Tafadzwa Muzondo, Gertrude Munhamo, Enisia Mashusha, Charity Dlodlo and Eunice Tava, among others.

Young generation theatre practitioners like Nothando Nobengula, Blessing Hungwe, Michael Kudakwashe, Caroline Mashingaidze, Evangelista Mwatse and John Pfumojena also found a springboard in Theatre in the Park.

Notable plays that have been seen include “Super Patriots” and “Morons”, “Madman and Fools”, “Wedding Night”, “Alone but Together”, “Waiting for Constitution”, “Ten Years from Now”, “Roki and Maneta”, “Rituals” as well as “Indigenous, Indigenous, Indigenous.”