Hosana Wosana at Mantlwaneng Theatre
Staff Writer | Thursday December 3, 2015 15:21
Hosanna Wosana is a musical, which celebrates Botswana through Kalanga spiritual music systems of Hosana, Sangoma and Mancomane. The story follows Christian missionaries’ first contact with the people of Southern Africa. It explores social communities’ values and needs. While fictitious, it covers a fictitious tribe of Baka-Habangana, whose chief was the first to convert to Christianity.
This happens at a time when the chief’s daughter is due for “ukuthwasa” (initiation) as a Hosana (the communal rain prayers intercessor). At the advice of the newly commissioned local pastor and her nuns, the chief forbids his daughter from going for initiation, thus putting to test a long standing Kalanga tradition that refusal warrants pain, suffering and subsequent death of the due “inthwasa” or “Bonga”.
All this happens at a time when the community is struck by the hardest drought in decades. The chief puts his new found faith to the test by asking the pastor and his nuns to pray for rain and prove to the ‘pagans’ the might of the ‘new’ God.
The production has a wide cast including individually commissioned Kalanga dancers from the North-East.
“This is such that we present an unadulterated Kalanga dances in a manner that does not compromise the spirituality of these sacred dance systems,” one of the organisors, Shabba Kgotlaetsho explained.
He added the legendary KTM Choir will be in charge of the hymnal and western section of the music, which he said forms a fair part of the production. He further said the production has more than 10 University of Botswana Theatre Studies students in both the technical and performance sections as a way of building a sustainable arts economy through practical industrial training.
The cast also includes Gata-La-Tau Traditional Group from Mmopane.
“Moabi Mabe, a professional ethnomusicologist and seasoned percussionist, leads the African Section of the music,” he said.
Also performing on the night will be Barwa Kgodumo ya Leselesele Traditional Group. The group will do a 40 minutes production of Balete traditional folk music, which is one of the greatest music forms from Botswana. The group will present a number of Balete musical sub-genres.
Next on The Botswana Blue Series’ calendar will be another musical theatre celebrating the life of Kgosi Kgolo Sechele 1 of Bakwena in February 2016.
The Botswana Blue Series is the brainchild of The Campus Group, and it will feature a number of activities including theatre, music, folk arts, fashion shows, poetry and cross-border performances. The series was created to celebrate Botswana’s 50th Independence Anniversary. Hosanna Wosana is one of the many activities that will take place from December of 2015 through to next September.