The much awaited Flamingos of the Makgadikgadi, which will be staged at the No 1 Ladies Opera House on Wednesday has been sold out.
The play is part and parcel of a chain of all-year-round plays which have theatre lovers’ excitement mounting in expectation.
The plays will all be staged at the No. 1 Ladies Opera House in Kgale.
The 50-seater theater, sponsored by the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series author, Alexander McCall Smith, is under advanced renovation stages.
The same opera house hosted the OKAVANGO MACBETH Operator last year.
The manager of the Opera House, Mrs. Cate Oford, said the renovations of the Opera House are going well and it will be ready by Tuesday for the first play. Oford said Botswana’s first Opera at the No. 1 Ladies Opera House in October last year was a sell out in its very fist week, hence “its librettist, Alexander McCall Smith is now funding the new seating arrangement and stage design in readiness for the planned 2010 season of nine music and drama shows.”
The first piece of the theater series, which is a collaboration between a local theater production company, Showtime Theater Company, and the Cape Town based International Theater for Africa, will showcase on the 10th of March.
The writer and director of the piece, University of Cape town – English literature and Theater honours degree graduate, Luke Ellenborgen said through the play he intends to tell a story about the beauty of the Makgadikgadi Flamingos, which holds the world record in numbers.
He said through the physical mime piece, which features an all out local talent, he wanted Batswana to tell a silent story about Botswana’s wildlife beauty in Makgadikgadi.
Mr. Kabelo Ramaselwana, the Director of Showtime Theater who has been in theater for 25 years, said they had collaborated with Theater For Africa because they have two different unique talents, with Theater for Africa concentrating on Animal and Wildlife while they focus on the edutainment aspect of theater.
The two jointly produced international pieces, A Light in The Night of President Khaya Africa, and Beef for Buffalo, which toured parts of Africa and Europe.
He said the first play, Flamingos of The Makgadikgadi, teaches people to love, protect and treasure the flamingos in an engaging family friendly way.
The young director, however, lamented the frustrating response from Batswana towards theater, saying Batswana should appreciate theater as a refreshing, recreational and educating activity.
Ramaselwana blamed non-profit making society theaters for killing the spirit of competent quality plays. However, he commended President Ian Khama for investing in the Arts, saying that he had empowered a lot of the youth.
The next play in April, after Flamingos of Makgadikgadi, will be the hit comedy from Cape Town, SLIPS, starring Nicholas Ellenbogen and Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
SLIPS is a play set around the game of cricket. It is a satirical look at the ever evolving relationships between White and Black people in South Africa. It is seen through the eyes of a retired school master who is trying to come to grips with the African Renaissance.
SLIPS will be followed by another local production featuring two local acts entitled Cattle Drive.
Cattle Drive is a story of young Batswana men driving cattle from Ghanzi to Lobatse. The story is set in the 1960s when cattle were driven to abattoirs on foot and a series of fire side stories and songs feature greatly in the play.
