The 4^th Edition of the Mitambo International Theatre Festival will run in hybrid format from the 20^th to the 24^th of September 2022, at Reps Theatre in Belgravia. 

Mitambo International Theatre Festival is an annual exciting five-day international theatre festival. The creative cultural summer gathering animates Harare – The Sunshine Capital of the World, with the very best local and international theatre performances, exhibitions, installations, masterclasses, critical talks, interactions and presentations.

The festival draws its name from the Shona word for plays which truly encapsulates what the festival is about: A platform through which local and global communities can access and celebrate the diversity of cultural identity and artistic expression.

The festival is the brainchild of the Zimbabwe Theatre Academy Trust which is a youth led, and focused sustainable initiative that uplifts lives, by providing a unique outlet for the young and the young at heart to receive theatre making and performance training. 

The 2022 Mitambo International Theatre Festival program has been carefully curated to uncover and support what theatre can be and what it can enable communities to do. It seeks to harness the unique energy and power of theatre as an immediate engagement tool for transformation of ordinary people. This cross-pollination of ideas, aesthetics and professional artistic potential between local and international artistic initiatives will enhance the Zimbabwean theatre landscape towards performing arts taking on an active role in the socio-economic growth of the society.

As a priority, the festival will ensure that everyone in our community is given access to fresh, thought provoking and high standard theatre performances. The festival’s essential aims are to create platforms for international exchange and for engagement in education, creation, promotion and consumption in theatre arts for beginners and professionals, and to use the theatre for mutual understanding and peace.

Main Acts include Tumbuka Dance Trust, Gospel DJ Unlocked, Elysium Magna, Clowns without Borders and Music Crossroads’ Vazukuru VeAfrica Band. The hybrid festival will also feature regional and international acts including the United States of America, Brazil, Macedonia, Spain, Lithuania, Poland and South Africa.

The theme is Upturn which is Inspired by the need to turn up for each other beyond the crises and chaos facing the world i.e. war, socio-economic crisis, Covid-19 and other diseases. The festival is inspired by the desire to entertain, educate and raise awareness on pertinent issues using the different modes of theatre. Covid 19 disrupted normalcy fuelling an onset of economic downturns, restrictions on gatherings and loss. It has been 2 years and counting, since the pandemic struck, and the arts have maintained their place in our society as a refuge, as spaces of healing and wonder.