Botswana's P500,000 Africa cup musicals is on

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Monday November 22, 2010 00:00

 

Titled the Goalmouth, the musical was first staged at the Sage in the United Kingdom (UK) in June after the British Council and a number of local companies such as Botswana Insurance Company, Toyota, AON, Limkokwing University, Department of Arts and Culture, Native Impressions in concert with the Botswana Society for the Arts (BSA) bankrolled the production that saw local dance troupe, Mophato, collaborating with UK producers as well as West African band, Kora Radio, to produce what could be one of the greatest 2010 musicals.

Locals as well members of the international community with the heart for the arts had a glimpse of the Sage performance after the Botswana Society for the Arts aired a documentary for the VIPs.

For the first time the expensive musical is being planned to be staged in Botswana, with an estimated cost of half a million Pula, but the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture Ruth Maphorisa believes it is worth every thebe (penny), especially that the arts and sports have proved they can work magic for the country far much better than other country branding initiatives.

BSA wants to bring the production to Botswana as part of the Maitisong Festival next April with two full performances of the piece in Gaborone.

Should all fund-raising efforts be fruitful the BSA intend taking the musical to further places around Botswana and beyond.

Now the race is on to raise the needed half a million Pula, and on Thursday last week, just as the documentary for the musical was shown, several companies pledged some P123 000, with Native Impression and Botswana Insurance Company both pledging P50 000 each. The insurance company even pledged that they will continue to work with the initiators of the production to see how  they can help cover other costs.

Limkwokwing University pledged P10, 000 and said they will be available to lend more support during the course of the production, while Debswana and Itekanele both pledged P5,000 each on the evening.

But the PS said her Ministry is available to assist in the project and that  they would make their pledge at a later stage.

The musical, Goalmouth tells the story of an African football final from kick-off to a final goal in the last minute of extra time. The original production  is performed by the four-piece Anglo-Gambian band, Korasong Radio, and Botswana's contemporary dance sensation Mophato Dance Theatre and The Sage Gateshead's massed choir, especially recruited for the Goalmouth musical.

Dancers from Mophato Dance Theatre dance as players and referees, the choirs are the football supporters, while Korasong Radio takes care of the African grooves and other 'roles' such as TV commentators, fallen heroes and even a press photographer.

Goalmouth is a feel-good affirmation of the best aspects of international football, which celebrates the arrival of the World Cup on African soil for the first time. The music of the piece is correspondingly a grooving mixture of West African and Southern African jazz and contemporary music.

The original production now captured on DVD has Urahata Susso on kora, vocals; Rebecca Askew, on vocals and acoustic guitar; Jeremy Avis, on vocals and electric guitar; Davide Mantovani (bass and evie);Davide Giovannini on drums, as well as Mophato dance theatre's Andrew Kola and dancers Edward Mphakelwa, Phenyo Modimowagae, Heath Lambert, and Boitumelo Mphusu. Luca Silvestrini was roped in as the artistic director, choreographer; while Nuno da Silva is the dance teacher, choreographer; and John Forsythe as the musical director.

The BSA says preparations for the staging of the Goalmouth production in Botswana  will run from February to April 2011.

The first stage of the process is for them to contact local choirs, schools and other potential participating groups to invite them to be part of the large football crowd choir that the piece needs for a successful performance.

' Goalmouth's aim is to get as many amateur singers as possible, both adults and young people, involved in learning and performing the piece, not only for them to enjoy the singing training inherent in the process but also to expand horizons as to what constitutes an art performance in Botswana,' says BSA in their notes for the last week event.

The impressive and highly skilled Korasong Radio band members Rebecca Askew and Jeremy Avis will also come here 10 days before the first performance at Maitisong, followed by Mophato dance trainer, Nuno Silva, sound engineer Peter Dale, and lighting designer David Holmes, with the rest of the team members arriving later on.