Napo Masheane, a multi-award-winning playwright, is billed to host a weeklong multifaceted production at the Soweto Theatre featuring a cultural melting pot of over 250 female creatives from across 17 countries on the continent.

The unique production, titled Herstory International Theatre Festival, stars a plethora of local and international creatives from across the globe, including the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Nigeria, Botswana, Lesotho, Senegal, Jamaica, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Madagascar, Namibia, Sweden, and the Caribbean.

The show is scheduled to run between Monday, 1 and Sunday, 7 August 2022 on Bolani Road in Jabulani, Soweto, and is organised under the auspices of Village Gossip Productions.

The festival line-up includes prominent artists such as US theatre maker, Kharyshi Wiginton; dub poet d’bi young from Canada; visual activist and photographer Zanele Muholi; executive producer Darling Desperado from Sweden; and Liatile Mohale from Lesotho. There’ll also be a guest appearance by the National Theatre of Namibia.

“As sister friends and creative siblings, we need to collectively create our stage where the focus will be igniting each other’s sparks while sharing parts of ourselves unapologetically,” says Masheane.

The hosting of Masheane’s Herstory dovetails with the celebration of Soweto Theatre’s 10th anniversary and the commemoration of the 1956 Women’s March to the Union Buildings against pass laws.

“We have always used art to inspire and empower others. We have used our voices to evolve with time, provoke thought, spark robust discussions, and create positive change within our communities. Thus, female creatives must stop navigating and negotiating spaces in a culture that often mutes or censors their artistic talents and abilities,” Masheane retorts.

The festival programme will include opening and closing days hosted by filmmaker, producer, scriptwriter, and director Makgano Mamabolo, as well as actress, and television presenter, Nomsa Buthelezi-Shezi.

There will also be a tapestry of diverse live performances by the likes of the sensational Buhle Bendalo from The Soil. A choreo-dance piece by Teresa Phuti Mojela, spoken-word recitals by twin sisters ‘Yamoria’, and a children’s book reading by prolific author, Lebohang Masango, will complement the theatre programme.

Paul Modjadji is expected to screen a short film titled “The Deal.” There’ll also be an in-house classical musical play by ‘The Fat Black Women Sing,’ written and directed by Napo Masheane under the musical direction of the gifted Tebogo Sedumedi.

Visit the Soweto Theatre website for information on Herstory International Theatre Festival: https://www.sowetotheatre.com; alternatively, telephone call 010 446 1458/ 1401/1479 for enquiries.