MULTI-AWARD winning theatre group Umkhathi Theatre Works founder Matesu Dube says they are working on a new production, which will be premiered in December.
The yet-to-be-named show is a mixture of traditional dance and storytelling.
Dube said the show tells the story of ancient Africa from an African perspective.
“Africa wasn’t about war during ancient times, there were good things that were done by Africans to fight disease and hunger,” he said.
“Different tribes came together against common problems. They used dance and music to communicate with their ancestors.”
Dube said it was the group’s 16th production.
“It is inspired by that as Africans we need to tell also the positive side of Africa,” he said.
“The aim of the production is to use our dances not as just ‘performances’, but in shows that tell our stories.
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“We also aim to portray the good side of ancient Africa using this show.”
Dube said rehearsals have been going on well despite a few challenges.
“The challenges that we are facing include limited resources for our stage set and investing in costumes,” he said.
“It is time to produce shows that can attract performances in theaters internationally.
“We have produced a lot of shows to date, we just need to improve with each show that we are producing.
“We need to show growth whenever we take a product to our audiences.”
