Stars to soar at Maitisong fest

Spira Tlhankane | Friday April 13, 2018 13:06

 

Music

Dramaboi

Motswako lyricist Thuto Ramphaleng popularly known as Dramaboi, will perform at this year’s Maitisong Festival on April 21, 2018 at Maitisong Theatre.

The candy rapper developed a love for music while studying at Maoka Junior Secondary School.  From there, he first rapped for an audience at Gaborone Senior Secondary School where he received a positive reaction from his fellow classmates. It was not uncommon for Dramaboi to have good reception for his earlier works. During his first official performance, an appearance at an open-mic show in Maru-a-Pula School, earned him a standing ovation. Now a heavyweight in the hip-hop scene, Dramaboi wa makeishane returns to Maruapula.

His music is heavily influenced by his Tswana culture and African roots, as he is a Motswako rapper. His popularity amongst local fans and the media came to the fore after his performance at a HUB Magazine-hosted hip-hop competition. His fame continued to soar with the release of his first single Godzilla, which topped the charts of Yarona FM and RB2. Another hit song of his, Matlharetlhare, had similar reception. He now has three albums being Township Music, Wa Makeishane and Township Music 2. His last single Setakile topped the charts late last year and he has also performed outside the country.  His music plays in South African soapie, Rhythm City.

 

Lost In a City Called Love

Composed and directed by Louisa April , Lost in a City Called Love is a musical journey that makes a debut at this year’s Maitisong Festival on Thursday, April 19 at Thapong Visual Arts Centre. It focuses on the theme of love in all its aspects: falling in love, betrayal, heartbreak, forgiveness, finding hope, trusting again and simply learning to love. “We will spend an hour unravelling our feelings and placing them into song.” Louisa together with her team, Tafnaz ‘The Acoustic Badboi’ will be on guitar and vocals, as well as Otlhomame ‘ECL’ Motlaleng on the keys. Tickets are sold at P100, P50 for students and pensioners.

Mozart’s Vedrai Carino (You’ll See, My Dear)

Vedrai, Carino is sung by the character Zerlina, a peasant girl and the fiancée of Masetto. It is from Act II, scene 1 of the two act Italian opera ‘Don Giovanni’ the music by the famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart who composed over 600 works, and the libretto was created by the Venetian Lorenzo da Ponte, who wrote the libretto for 28 operas including three of Mozart’s greatest operas, Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro and Cosi fan tutte. In this scene Zerlina enters in search of Masetto. When she finds him, she sweet-talks him out of his hotheaded escapade and asks him where he is hurt. He points to a number of places on his anatomy and she replies suggestively that as long as the rest of him is all right, it’s not so bad. In the touching aria ‘Vedrai, carino’ (‘You will discover, my dear’) she tells him that she has the cure for his pains, and she tells him to put his hand on her chest so he can feel her heart beating.  Sunday, April 21, 6pm, Thapong

 

KTM

KTM Choir is celebrating 25 years of choral and the festival is a good platform to thank Maitisong for the support they continue to give them. “The Theme ‘Lore Lo Ojwa Le Sa Le Metsi’ speaks direct to us as we pride ourselves in grooming young Batswana to be the best in their art as musicians and leaders.” Sunday, April 22, 4pm, Maitisong

 

Theatre

A Day Before Execution: I’m Sorry Mr President

Written by Kopano Manyaapelo and Edward Moroka this play is a captivating, all-male theatre production that reveals stories of love, betrayal, and tragedy. It revolves around the lives of four convicted prisoners, who are 24-hours away from meeting their death. Each man speaks the brutal truth, explaining the real reason behind his heinous crime.

Their stories will take the audience through the raw, uncensored and vivid memories, painting horrific images of how they carried out acts of murder in cold blood. The play explores issues of revenge and acts of anger and frustration, portraying how many-a-man fall victim to circumstance. The play’s main theme is that violence is not the answer in promotion of seeking help in difficult situations. Sono Abram and Edward Moroka direct the 50-minute.  The play will be showing at Maitisong on Sunday, April 15 at 4pm. Tickets are available for P100 at the Maitisong office and Webtickets.

 

Once Upon a Playground

Arts4Every1 in collaboration with Marung Productions and The Overseas Theatre Works is pleased to announce that their production of Once Upon a Playground will be part of the 2018 Maitisong Festival. The play is written by Jack Frakes and directed by Douglas Newell. Cast and crew for this family-friendly show are drawn from both local professionals and students in the Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) department at the University of Botswana. Once Upon a Playground is a humorous one-act play with the universal theme of wanting to make friends.

Arts4Every1 is excited to sponsor a special performance to include traditionally disenfranchised audience members. The play will be showing at Maitisong (at Maru-a-Pula School) on April  14 and 15 at 1.30pm. Tickets are available for P75 at the Maitisong office and Webtickets.

 

Dr G.K.T. Chiepe’s A

Woman of Many Firsts

There are many untold stories about African women who have lived extraordinary lives of national service. One of those stories is that of Dr Gaositwe K.T. Chiepe. Her granddaughter, Moduduetso Lecoge, wanted to be the first to finally bring her story to the public, by writing about it and acting it out.

The play premiered at the 2016 Maitisong Festival, and is now back, bigger, better and bolder, with an expanded one-hour version for Maitisong Festival 2018. The story chronicles the life of Dr G.K.T Chiepe from her childhood as a young Motswana girl growing up in Serowe village in Botswana, the same village where Botswana’s founding President Sir Seretse Khama and his family are from. It tracks her education path through secondary school at the prestigious Tigerkloof College in South Africa during the apartheid era.

Thereafter, with the help of the government of Botswana’s (then Bechuanaland Protectorate) scholarship, she proceeded to Fort Hare University where she completed as the first black African female to graduate with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Zoology and Botany.

Furthermore, she went to read for her Master’s degree at the University of Bristol in the UK in the 1950s. She was the first Motswana female to attain a Master’s degree. During her life, she achieved a lot of firsts as a young girl, as a working woman and in politics, hence the title of the play A Woman of Many Firsts. The play will be showing at the Moving Space (at Maru-a-Pula School) on April 13 at 8.30pm, 14th at 6pm and 15th at 4pm. Tickets are available for P100 at the Maitisong office and Webtickets.

Dance

Three Tales from Namibia

The renowned OYO dance troupe from Namibia will take you on a journey, presenting a triple bill on April 20, 21 at Thapong Visual Arts Centre. Choreographed and directed by Phillipe Talavera Maria follows the story of a young pupil who is forced to leave school to get married. According to UNICEF, over 5,400 children are married in Namibia. While legislation strictly regulates marriage for minors, traditions still prevail in other places. 

What really happens to these girls? Do they become voiceless mothers? Sections in Maria are inspired by a workshop the troupe had with renowned dancer from Botswana, Duncan Sebopelo. Thiasus is a modern tale; inspired by the mythical figure of Dionysus and his followers, travelling in processions called Thiasus and recruiting newcomers to join in their celebrations. Too many young Namibians get pressurised to join in parties, and too often they regret their actions, a little too late.

The piece was developed in collaboration with dancers from Sweden, the USA, the Netherlands, the UK and Germany. ‘Bin boy’ addresses the issue of cultural discrimination. Over 97% of children in Namibia enrol in primary school, but only 67% of San children do. Of those, less than one percent complete high school. Many drop out of school because of cultural discrimination. The piece pays homage to the San culture and looks at the clash between traditions and modernism.

The OYO dance troupe developed a unique repertoire using physical theatre. It appeals to the heart rather than the intellect. OYO is the first, and currently only, dance troupe in Namibia employing dancers as fulltime performers and performed to over 150,000 in 2017 alone. Internationally, it produced itself in Botswana (Maitisong festival 2016), the UK (on invitation by the Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival, with performances in Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburg and London, 2014 and on invitation by Sadler’s wells, London, 2009), South Africa (2009, 2011) and Germany (2009).