S. Africa’s Imibala to thrill Ugandans

A South African-based theatre group Imibala Theatre and Company, is set to fly into the country for several performances in April. The group has been invited by Alliance Française.The director of Alliance Française, Didier Martin, said that there will be a public performance at the Cultural Village, behind National Theatre on Saturday April 6 at a fee of sh3000 while French students and members of Alliance Française will pay sh1000.Imibala Theatre and Co, will also perform for a school audience and conduct a workshop for adult Ugandan performers.“The school audience will comprise all Ugandan schools that offer French. The show will take place at Ecole Française at Lugogo.” Martin Didier said.Didier said that Fertile Shadow is a popular Theatre act by Imibala Theatre and Company, a multi-cultural troupe of five performers: Carine Chalandes from France, John Thomo and Naomi Smit, both from South Africa. From USA is Shawn O’Docharty and Jonathan Gunning from Ireland.Imibala, a Zulu word meaning a full spectrum of colours, was born after a proposal to create theatre in the townships of Johannesburg in August 2000. The Fertile Shadow is based on the intense history of South Africa, its past and present and the diversity of its people, giving an impression of a living mosaic.The one hour Fertile Shadow recounts the story of a hero, altogether ordinary, somebody like you and me. Not long ago, in an African village, there lived a grey couple Willem and his wife Thembi, who were trapped together in this little, grey life.However, one night, an evil spirit, the bad Sangoma, kidnapped Thembi after being charmed by her beauty. Willem is then pushed into an unknown world. But he wants to find his wife and save her from the dark powers that have taken her. First, he must go through an odyssey of colours. He meets evil giants and magic birds on his way to rescue Thembi.The story that follows is that of a hero, his humble beginnings, his call for action, the trials of his courage, his eventual triumph and the return to his people. Cut from his grey world, Willem crosses the first colour of forest-green-on voyage that will bring him to the yellow sun, to the blue of the rivers and sky. When he reaches the red volcano, his passion deepens.The Fertile Shadow, funded by the French foundation and the French Institute of South Africa was part of the Arts Alive International Festival, according to a press release from Alliance Française in Kampala.In 12 days, the piece, was performed in English and Zulu, for over 7,200 people in community centres and public schools in Soweto, Alexandria, Lenasia, and at the celebrated Market Theatre, in Johannesburg.ends