Presented by the British Council Zimbabwe

As part of its commitment to fostering new artistic talent and community outreach, HIFA is showcasing four new plays through its HIFA DIRECT programme, headed up by theatre luminary Zane E. Lucas in partnership with the British Council Zimbabwe. HIFA DIRECT was started two years ago and has mentored and nurtured several young Zimbabwean writers and directors whose works have now been performed in places as far abroad as Algeria and Ireland. The British Council has continually shown itself to be an enthusiastic supporter of Zimbabwean artistic endeavours and its collaboration with HIFA on the exciting HIFA-DIRECT project is just one example of the innovative projects it undertakes in order to encourage the growth and development of Zimbabwean arts and culture.

Every year the Council brings out two established professionals from the UK to work with selected candidates on the project, as well as supporting the technical and staging elements for the productions at HIFA. Invitations to apply to the programme were sent out and successful applicants from varying backgrounds and levels of expertise came together for a two week workshop at the end of January, facilitated by UK mentors Tessa Walker and Drew Pautz, both of whom are established writers and directors.

Over the two weeks the writers went through an intensive script deconstruction and re-writing programme, while the directors were taken through their paces on how best to work with new plays, the rehearsal process and the relationship between writer and director. They were joined by acting students from the University of Zimbabwe and other training institutions, who added a valuable third dimension to the development of these new plays.

At the end of the two weeks 4 of the 6 submitted scripts were selected for inclusion in HIFA 2010. The selected scripts were paired with 4 directors who will work with the writers over the next month to have completed scripts ready for rehearsal. The writers selected are: Chris Mlalazi; Patrick Miller; Musekiwa Samuriwo and Patrick Mahlasera. The directors: Eunice Tava; Elizabeth Muchemwa, Lloyd Nyikadzino and Leeroy Gono.

Together this group of talented young Zimbabweans will be presenting world premieres of uniquely Zimbabwean work as an exciting part of the theatre programme for HIFA 2010, showcasing the best of local and international artists.

The four HIFA DIRECT PLAYS are:  Election Day, Just Papers, Revolution Avenue and Only Hope:.