Multi-award winning Playwright Napo Masheane presents the hit line-up for the first local curated theatre festival, Herstory International Theatre Festival. This is a one of a kind theatre festival with incredible international acts from the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Nigeria, Botswana, Lesotho, Senegal, Jamaica, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Madagascar, Namibia, Sweden, and the Caribbeans.
Between the 1st – 7th of August 2022, Village Gossip Productions in association with the Soweto Theatre, which is also celebrating 10 years, will not only be commemorating 20 000 women, mothers, aunts, sisters and daughters, of all races, who marched to the Union Building on 9 August in 1956 against pass laws, but will also be positioning Herstory within History. This will be done through creating a melting pot platform consisting of 250 artists/creatives from 17 countries in collaboration with over 20 production companies and other institutions from Africa, the diaspora and the world.
The creative line-up consists of the prominent artists such as theatre maker – Kharyish Wigington (USA), dub poet d’bi young (Jamaica/Canada), visual activist and photographer Sir Zanele Muholi, executive producers like Darling Desperado (Sweden)… performing arts practitioners like IBOKWE (RSA), Liatile Mohale (Lesotho) and guest appearance by the National Theatre of Namibia to name but a few.
“ We have always used our art to inspire and empower others. We have used our voices to evolve with time, to provoke thought, to spark robust discussions and to create positive change within our communities. Thus, it is imperative for Womxn creatives to stop navigating and negotiating spaces in a culture that often mutes or censors their artistic talents and abilities. My take is that, as sister-friends and creative- siblings we need to collectively create our own stages where the focus will
be igniting each other’s sparks while sharing parts of ourselves unapologetically” – Napo Masheane
The festival includes opening and closing days that are hosted by media personalities such as Makgano Mamabolo and Nomsa Buthelezi-Shezi. While a tapestry of diverse live performances will be by the likes of the sensation, Buhle Bendalo from The Soil, a choreo-dance piece by Teresa Phuti Mojela; furthermore spoken-word recital by twin-sisters ‘Yamoria’, a children’s book reading by prolific author, Lebohang Masango… short film screening of ‘The Deal’ by Paul Modjadji and in-house classical musical play by ‘The Fat Black Women Sing’ written and directed by Napo Masheane under the musically direction of the amazing gifted Aus Tebza (Tebogo Sedumedi).
