Easter Theatre Festival announces 2024 dates
The three-day fourth edition of the Easter Theatre Festival ended Sunday at Jacaranda Cultural Centre (JCC) with the organisers announcing dates for 2024.
Solomonic Peacocks Director McArthur Matukuta, who is also the festival director, said the fifth edition will run from March 22 to 24 2024.
“This is our way of doing things and that is why we are announcing the dates for next year in good time,” Matukuta said.
He then hailed people for patronising the festival which run under the theme ‘Everyone Counts’, from the first to the third day, which brought together a number of performances including Siegmar Schroder from Germany, Waliko Makhala, Joyce Ntepa and Vanessa Litta from Jacaranda, Chichiri Prison Cultural Troupe, Young Travellers Theatre, St Andrews High School, Yona Mlakatuli, Dikamawoko Arts and Solomonic.
There was no show for Native Eye from South Africa, which failed to show up due to flights, and Jacaranda Cultural Centre Director Luc Deschamps, who is outside the country.
During the official opening of the festival on Friday, Chief Arts Officer in the Department of Arts in the Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture, Qipase Maulidi, who represented the Director of Arts, commended organisers of the festival for a job well done in holding the fourth edition of the festival.
Maulidi said events like these, lay a foundation for continued and enhanced contribution of the arts to socio-economic development of the nation.
“The importance of theatre in the creative ecosystem cannot go unnoticed; socially, theatre promotes social discourse, dialogue and potential change,” she said.
Maulidi said this is echoed by the government agenda for the arts and culture, which has now refocused on promoting and marketing the sector in order to realise its full economic potential.
“The sector needs support from government and provision of enabling policies. For instance, the department is in the final stages of enacting the bill for the National Arts and Heritage Council. It is our belief that this will translate into more support for artists, creative startups and associations,” she said.
